FamiliarS of Zero
by Shadenight123
Summary: Louise the Zero calls forth a familiar. Though instead of one, she gets two familiars, the original one and an OC one who will turn out to be more than she can handle. M for safety, NOW COMPLETED 13/05/2012. The more you read, the better it gets.
1. Chapter 1: Trouble made double

**Hello there!**

**First off, I don't expect to be an award winning story-writer, though I do enjoy writing stories.**

**I also liked the Zero no Tsukaima anime, until it became shallower till the end of the last season's anime, where it degenerated into a -lolwut- situation.**

**So, this fanfiction is simple:**

**Instead of only Hiraga Saito, or somebody else swapping with him, we have another person join the fray during Louise's strange familiar evocation.**

**One who isn't a simple Japanese student who enjoys getting hit by a girl with explosions.**

Zero no Tsukaima Fan fiction by Shadenight123

"The Familiars of Zero"

-Taken from original back cover-

"Who are you?"

Hiraga Saito awoke to find a pretty girl asking him that question. Looking around, he found himself in an unfamiliar place, people dressed as magicians surrounding him and the girl.

The girl, calling herself Louise, explained that she had "summoned" him from his world to be her "familiar". Saito's confusion grew, especially after she kissed him and claimed it was a "contract"! My first kiss, he lamented, but before he had even a chance to become angry, strange symbols etched themselves into his left hand, marking him as a familiar!

While searching for a way to return home, Saito must cope with being forced to live with Louise, as her familiar...

"Who are you?"

Elite 578639, codenamed COGMK6, was running for his life. Ducking for cover, he ends up jumping on a grassy plain with strange things next to him. How can a Commander of Genocide keep playing the part of a sort of demon, when his pride wants one thing and the intergalactic ensemble of laws dictate another? And when the Original, the Supreme Being considered by his people the apotheosis of his kind, personally tells him to "have fun"?

While trying to hold his real strength to the leash, and masquerade it, he must also manage to fight off a never ending stream of strange thoughts which risk of driving him mad, or worst, to betrayal.

"Miss Vallière, please recite your incantation" came the voice from Mr. Colbert, holding his wooden staff and pointing to the open patch of grass, while the rest of the crowd of students opened up to let a small, pink-haired girl make its way to the center, eyes gazed on her. Lots of eyes.

In the midday sun, of a warm spring day, the springtime summoning familiar ritual was about to take place again; with a new summoning.

Hiraga Saito was walking down the road, back home; in his backpack were a couple of things he had used during school, and some more he had kept to enjoy in the quiet peace of the evening park. Wearing his blue and white jersey, he pulled up his hood as a gust of cold wind made him feel shivers down his spine.

It was a cold autumn evening. As he walked slowly, his thoughts lingered on theories about his upcoming dinner; Warm dinner. The taste of the hamburgers he was going to eat were already salivating his mouth. With his mind busy he simply didn't realize the green portal which had opened right beneath his feet.

Elite 578639, codenamed C.O.6, was running on the scorched ex capital city of an otherwise green planet, Truan 8.

Hardly to blame, when you have a Scortifex slithering it's way at you with its ten feet tall body, five sharps claws per hand, four hands per arm and a serpent-like body capable of going at 50 km/h.

"Damned biological purge by-product!" he muttered to himself. The nanites forming his helmet pinged him about the incoming rescue shuttle: it would take two weeks.

Him and his goody two shoes attitude! -Go first please! I'll keep him at bay, wait for me at the secondary LZ! - Yeah, they left without even waiting. Those damn cowards! The Original was going to have their heads on spikes and throw them in a black hole!

It all had started two days before. An outbreak on a new type of genetical modifier had infected the otherwise meek lab rat population: giving them psychic powers. The rats had decided it would be fun to bend the bars of their prisons, the spines of the scientist and escape while freeing everything else along their path.

On the plus note, the recipe had been given to the Paladins, bringing them up to MK7. He still had one of the remaining vials though. It was crude stuff, and it would more likely kill him than not if he had tried to take a sip.

The city had been evacuated, and would soon be nuked from orbit. The shuttle de-facto issued a non-possible rescue, and his nanites pinged back to him the news.

He simply *had* to leave the city by foot. In less than three hours. Without letting anything else escape.

It would either be him, or no-one.

As he dashed around the corner, something green caught his eyes, straight in front of him. He rolled to the side to avoid it, but that thing moved, catching him up with unparalleled speed.

It was a second Scortifex; this one was smaller and more nimble, and faster.

His nanites absorbed much of the blow from the claws, but he could feel the cracks of his bones. -Betting on a compound fracture- "Compound fracture found, repair delayed, survival at risk. Suggesting escaping or self-destructing."

With no intention of going down without a fight, Elite 578639 charged right in nanites sword forming in his right hand. As claw was about to meet sword though, he felt himself being pulled away.

"Marvelous and divine familiar?" "Nah, she said supreme and beautiful!" were the common giggles from the student's crowd, which dispersed slowly, as an explosion swiftly followed by a hefty dose of dust, formed around the center of the grass patch.

A slow wind gust dispersed it, to reveal the strangest of things; which also made the crowd stand silent.

There was not a single familiar, but two figures; One completely different from the other, a boy and a demon.

The boy was wearing a blue and white jersey, black hair and hazel eyes, and looked confused and wordless.

The demon was...well, COGMK6.

He was in his battle suit. A humanoid like exoskeleton made of pure blackened Kevlar and diamond fiber, composed of sentient nanites, nicknamed Demon mk2 by the researchers. It had long claws which could be retracted, modeled after whatever melee weapon of choice, or used in whatever way they could be instructed, a helmet made to assume an aerodynamic form and filled to the brim with sensors and a small AI, the center of the nanites cogitative thinking. It also had a system of recycling organical matter. Basically, it was a fortress the size of a human and which looked like a demon from the pits of hell. The demon didn't seem to bother much with his surroundings.

Any place was better than Truan 8, and he was able to adapt, it was a requisite for surviving the Elite Course.

The boy on the other hand was perplexed, laying on the ground his face up.

"Who are you?" the pink haired girl in front of them asked.

Saito shook his head, thoughts twirling around, before answering with a slow "My name is...Hiraga Saito".

Cog stayed silent. He did sense that the bald men next to them was prone to charge though; looked like a strange guy, with a wooden staff, a calm smile, yet he could feel it, he was hiding at least a military grade training. Maybe he did have the wrong impression of him; yet he did have a sword in hand, which slowly retracted into basic claws, again. This did give a sort of feeling that he was about to strike...maybe?

-Why trust people like this? - They have no sense of preservation. Teleporting a Commander of Genocide out of his entrusted area and Original knows where. They truly must hate their own species.

Looking around they did seem human.

Like the boy which was next to him.

This clearly wasn't Truan 8, though.

"Where are you two from? Commoner, is he your pet?" the girl said, hesitant after a while, deciding to speak to the human-like creature instead of demon-resembling one.

No replies came in soon, the boy was disoriented, and "Cog" wasn't in the mood to give out valuable or sensible information. Something was still not being right, at least for his sixth sense.

Snickers and remarks soon boomed from the crowd.

-Seems this girl here isn't liked a lot- was all Cog thought.

"I just made a mistake!" the girl shouted back, pouting.

"Two mistakes don't make a right Louise!" "But she's the Zero, so it's to be expected".

"Mr. Colbert! Please, let me do it again!"

"I cannot allow that, never has it happened for the springtime summoning to summon a human as a familiar, even more to summon two familiars at once, but it's a ritual that goes above laws."

-Human? - Cog's ears could have actually been seen stretching.

-Human, huh...- something was ticking him off. The boy clearly wasn't human to his standards. Maybe it was for theirs...but not for his.

Cog stretched some more, claws feigned to stretch and move like his fingers, while his eyes, covered by the helmet seemed like reddish holes, three on the right and three on the left, making him look sort of like a spider, were pointed on the bald man.

He was going to intervene, probably, his hands were twitching, but maybe it would prove to be unnecessary.

"Please proceed with the contract Miss Vallière; you have graduated to a second year...the contracts, my mistake."

Saito had just regained half of his senses, that the pretty girl already started chanting again.

"My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar." It was strange how she methodically repeated those words, moment after moment. Then suddenly, she leaned in, her lips touching his.

When she removed herself, moments later she simply stated "It is done".

"What? What is done here? What did you do and why?" but he was ignored, Louise, the girl, had suddenly turned towards the other thing, the demon.

He growled, assuming a menacing and beastly-like form. He had no clue what they were trying to do, but in any case nobody was going to touch him. "Attention, no hostilities detected, compound fracture is about to be repaired, please hold still" appeared written onto his visor, all that Cog could think of was –Why now!...Argh! - Before letting out a beastly roar of pain he tried running, but to no avail, the nanites were quicker.

The nanites responsible for self-repairs assembled on his broken arm; they would have had a small dose of anesthetic, but they had already repaired a lot of his body during the initial assault in the Truan 8 secret Laboratory base, so they mended the arm, and repaired the bone all, without a single drop of anesthetic, but with a hellish pain.

"Mr. Colbert?" she whispered, slightly scared by that roar; a feeling of fear running through her veins. Why would she be scared? The familiar had been evoked to be her servant, right?

"He's your summoned familiar and your responsibility...but do not worry, if things get messy I'll intervene miss Vallière." Colbert reassured her.

Nobody said anything; the crowd was silent after the roar. Everyone stood still, very still.

Cog looked at the pink haired girl move slowly forward, the more she got closer, the more the difference in height, one meter and ninety seven for him, became clear.

"My...My name is..." the girl whimpered, scared, and unable to get closer. It must have been the pheromones. They were out in the open after all, so it was obvious it would take a while for those to kick in. Right now they were set on Fear. In a battlefield, it was the most useful feeling to give to your enemies. Right now he was on verge of collapsing from the pain. -Not even a drop of painkillers huh?- "Negative" -it was a rhetoric question- "Affirmative" -No, you simply don...- his sight grew hazy, and then he fell on his knees.

"Deactivating pheromones for lack of situation" came as a small sound as he lost consciousness.

The rest was a haze. He did feel like being carried by someone.

But that was just a discontinued thought.

It had happened twice before: on the battlefield of Sigma 3 and on the deck of Starcrusher Poseidon.

In that case there were technologically advanced alien fleets and enemies. Suffering a loss of conscience and having to be dragged because of a broken bone? He'd be the laughter of the entire Elite Class if the rumor ever made it back.

He woke up feeling groggy. His suit was still on him; the Ai had recorded what had happened after he had lost consciousness, and also the audio. He had fainted, and then the girl had quickly proceeded with the ritual. The nanites noted no difference, but mimicked the runes which had appeared on the boy's hand for "camouflaging purposes".

It had seemed like Mr. Colbert had carried him all the way, while flying, to the… stables. The boy and the girl, instead, had walked back.

When he actually started discerning his surroundings, he realized someone was looking at him. It was a girl dressed in a maid outfit, with black hair and hazel eyes; she was looking at him with a perplexed and mixed look.

He tried moving. A tingling sensation on his right arm made him stop. He looked down to see a chain had been placed. "Composition of restrain analyzed, basic ferrous substance. Advice use of moderate strength to break" –You don't say- .

"He…hello?" the maid said, a bit whimpering. Had they never seen a battle exoskeleton on this world? Seemed like it. He kind of wondered why his trick hadn't already been called, but looking around the nanites already gave him the answer "Possible middle-age technological world: probability of 87%".

"You won't harm me, right? I have brought you some food…" she added hesitantly with a small package of paper, enclosed within, once she threw it near him, was raw meat.

-Yes, they have no idea what this is. - He looked at her, and then looked back at the food. Nanites assembled on his helmet to mimic a puzzled look.

"You don't…eat meat?" –No, I eat the souls of the idiots- "Maybe you graze grass?" was she really hoping for an answer? He sighed, which, through the nanites voice modification sounded more like a rasping groan. A flick of his claws and the chain was broken. A scream soon followed as the maid started running away. Courage wasn't her point it seemed.

He stood up, finally, and scratched his head slowly.

"A message has been received, impossible to refuse orders within." –Who is the sender? – The message unfolded in front of his visor, and silently, Cog began reading.

_Little one,_

_I'm sure you're puzzled, but don't worry, everything is fine. _

_Remember to judge accordingly, and give out a proper result based on facts, and not anger._

_Remember that, worst to worst, I'll be always there. _

_So, have fun, and remember the laws. _

_Yours with a tight hug, _

_The Original._

His brain went blank for five seconds.

-What did I just read? - "Message sent by the Original himself". "I'm unworthy! I'm too unworthy to receive such tender words from my god!" he would have yelled to the sky, but he had orders to respect. He looked at the runes which the nanites had mimicked to ensure camouflaging. The Ai was puzzled too, since it needed something to confront them with before giving out a proper translation.

"Please…stay calm" the voice shook him from his thoughts. The maid had gone back with a … frying pan in hand? He made a step towards her, she made a step back "please Mr. familiar, don't eat me, I've still got to find a nice guy to marry". She was panicking, starting to murmur every little reason why she shouldn't be killed.

Cog drew closer to her, and once close enough he stopped; the maid closed her eyes in prayer to a certain founder Brimir. He lowered his hand on her and… patted her head, twice, slowly and gently.

She carefully opened one eye to see him, or better yet, his nanites mimic a smile on his helmet. A wicked and filled with teethes smile, but a smile never less.

-So…what fun can I have around here? I've got it: I'll follow the flow. Won't be bad, and, at the end of it all, I'll probably have enough to judge this world- Those thoughts in mind, he left a speechless maid behind and went outside the stables. The night showed him her glory with three moons. –Well, this clearly is not Truan 8. It's got five moons that planet-.


	2. Chapter 2: Tagteaming

Chapter 2

The night's breeze was slowly moving the grass blades of the courtyard inside the building complex.

Cog was trying to find out a reason behind this place, when he saw the Japanese boy outside, washing clothes. Curious he silently crept closer to the boy, since the clothes were frilly, and lacey, it was clear they did not belong to him. At least, his Ai didn't point it out as such.

The boy turned around feeling a set of red eyes on him. "You woke up?" he asked. Cog acted perplexed and pointed at himself. "Yes. You can't speak?" the boy asked him. Cog nodded. "You can understand me though". Cog nodded again. "You know why we are here?" Cog shook his head. "You must have been surprised as me then." –Not in the slightest. At Elite Class academy they throw you out in the middle of the night onto a barren planet were the day is radioactive. You survive by running towards the dark side, and you're going to be fine. Problem is finding what the correct side is- Cog shrugged.

"Well…the girl says she's a noble, and a mage, and we are her familiars. We must serve and obey her. I'm here washing her stuff. You know how to wash stuff?" Saito asked him eagerly. Cog made his best puzzled look as he got closer, touching carefully with two fingers one undergarment. Like someone examining it for a higher purpose, he then threw it back in the water and shook his head. "You can understand me, but you can't clean?" Saito was perplexed, but then the demon showed him his right hand index, and slowly pushed it against the side of the rock fountain. It cracked.

"Better not. You'd shred it all and then I'd be the one getting the blame" –I'm liking this boy, smart one-

Was Cog thought as he nodded, and then looked around. There was nothing of interest, so he simply moved towards the set of doors. "Wait! Do you know where you're going?" Saito asked him. Cog shook his head. "Louise's room in near the top of the tower… If you want to go there be silent because she's sleeping" Cog nodded before entering the academy. He had no intentions of meeting that girl so soon again.

Once Elite, always Elite; Cog didn't waste much time in touring the place. He had no need for shut-eye at the present, and was trained to go five days without sleeping, though hallucinations did tend to make things strange if you stayed up so long. One guy who didn't survive the no sleep test thought that a loaded gun was his girlfriend; the others were laughing so hard at seeing a cauliflower getting bitten by a butterfly. Stuff like that was normal administration of Elite training. He looked for all the possible exit points and choke points, making the map of the school, because chalkboards and empty class rooms could only mean a school, through the use of his helmet's nanites.

By dawn, he had completed the schematics of the buildings nearby, and knew which were more heavily guarded than others, and where most of the things were. He would have dispatched some nanites to do heavy reading, but he needed them all for the present. He still wasn't sure this wasn't a hostile territory, nanites or not. The Original's terms of "fun" furthermore, where much varied.

He saw people amass towards the entrance of the dining hall, and after careful thinking headed to the kitchens.

Nobody even stopped him until he was physically inside. Some were scared, other murmured words about the second familiar of the Zero, in any case, he stepped into the kitchen and only then, was he confronted by a big man, cooking utensils in his hand "Shoo now! We're cooking for the nobles here! Make a mess and it's on m…" Cog ignored him, heading for the side were the oven was warming up.

-Nanites flame- was his mental order, as his right palm outstretched towards the bunch of wood which was slowly enflaming itself. The nanites, though at the order of the nanometer, started buzzing. Their tiny diamond claws began creating friction, which in turn became sparks, which in turn, through careful air control by nearby nanites, ignited at a safe distance a flame which immediately turned on the oven; without the need of venting it.

The cook looked in awe and silence, as the way the demon was using his claws to carefully pinch ingredients, analyzing them, and using them, was master class. The claws had retracted into less sharp form, allowing Cog an easier mean of preparing the breakfast; in less than five minute, he was done preparing a three persons meal. As a token of thanks for letting him use the kitchen, and three platters, even if for a brief moment, Cog threw an extra Croissant at the chef, who caught it in the air.

The kitchen staff said that never before did they see the chef burst into tears of joy, after munching a piece of what he himself, later defined as "paradise melting on the tongue".

Cog then made his way into the dining hall, where he could see the pink haired girl sitting on a chair, and the boy, Saito, sitting on the floor.

He sighed –That guy is in need of a spine- he thought as he made his way towards them. He had been quite fast, since both of them were still lacking breakfast.

"Now this, this is a familiar!" the girl, Louise if he wasn't wrong, said speaking to Saito. Cog was actually more inclined to eat two shares and leave the third only for Saito, but decided not to. The breakfasts were a composition of what he was best able to cook, French croissants, Italian cappuccino, English cupcakes, Germanic sausages and Switzerland famous chocolate muffins. At least, those were the names. Names devoid of meaning, since Earth, the one he knew of, had been utterly destroyed after the sun went supernova thousands of year before he had been born.

He gently dropped one in front of Louise, and then with a nod of the head had Saito follow him outside. The girl seemed like wanting to speak, but thought not to. Especially since the demon had a kind of dark, cold stare towards her.

Out in the open, he handed Saito his breakfast, "I … Itadakimasu!" "Japanese language recognized Thanks for the meal" –No problem spineless- was Cog's mental though as he started eating too. More like letting the nanites reassemble the helmet to allow passage through a hole at the sight of his mouth, but hiding it from external view thanks to their innate camouflaging ability. For anyone watching, food simply disappeared once in contact with his face.

"She said since I was a commoner it was going to be an honor to simply eat on the floor!" Cog shrugged. "Nothing makes you angry does it?" Cog nodded. "You've got nerves of steel, wish I had them too" –See two worlds burn in agony and three hundred and more battlefields, and you'd be surprised- Cog thought.

"Hey you two! Class is about to start!" came as a yell from behind them, Louise was on top of the stair, she had milk-moustaches, probably the result of drinking the cappuccino too fast.

Cog shrugged, grabbing a hold of Saito empty platter, and heading back in, dropping them on the closest pile. He then went back again, finding to his surprise that both Saito and Louise were there, waiting on him, it appeared. "Now listen you, I don't know what's your problem familiar, but you should know you have to stick close to me every time!" yelled to him Louise, as Saito, slightly in the background, was mimicking her in the best exaggerated tones ever.

-He's got no spine but he's reckless. He's bound to get hurt too- he was amused. The Original did say he had to have fun. So he was actually going to have fun. Louise kept on yelling the "proper familiar etiquette" maybe trying to make him realize his mistakes? He didn't nod, simply standing still and then looking at the empty corridor, then at Louise again. "What is it now? You don't know how to speak?" Cog nodded, for once. –Wasn't there class, like, five minutes ago? - He thought.

"Damn! We're going to be late for class, and it's all going to be your fault!" she screamed again. –Seems like she doesn't know how to talk- He followed in silence. Saito followed him too. It was like having a duck and its ducklings. "I love fried ducklings by the way" his AI commented. –Good, but I wasn't asking about your personal preferences- Cog replied.

Ais were tricky businesses; too much science-fiction had given off the wrong idea and the wrong solutions. First off they were not bent on destruction of humans because it would be costly, and they could spend their resources better by cooperating with them. Secondly they still needed humans' naiveté to discover new solutions to problems, or to better them. Thirdly, and finally, they were made and considered to be as human as possible. Treat one as you want to be treated, and it will not try to chop your head off.

This open mindedness was only possible thanks to the Original battle of Silicon Valley, thousands and thousands of years before, when he was still a human walking the earth, albeit at the head of the strongest military at the time. Musing over these thoughts, Cog realized they had reached the classroom, principally because an enormous laughter, at their sight, had shook him off from his daydreaming.

Louise took her seat at the far end of the class, and since the two seats next to her were empty, both Saito and Cog sat down there too. She did give them a bad look, but said nothing again. Something about being closer to Cog's clawed hands made her incredibly meeker.

The lesson started with the entry of a slightly fat woman who presented herself as "Chevreuse the red clay" who then went on explaining how to work magic to transmute stuff. Cog lacked the basic of the first years, but he did catch far more on the geopolitical situation than anywhere else. He understood how it came to be of nobles and commoners, and thus determined that eventually, an industrial revolution and gunpowder era would destroy this set in stone society. If he didn't act first, that was.

Saito couldn't keep quiet though, asking what a triangle mage was. He could have waited after the lesson. Cog remembered how school was: five hundred entered, only ten graduated. It was still easier than what was then required from the Elite Class in battle. Things like "Blow up that bridge" was easy Saboteur class material, Elite class had assignments like "grab a vial of Scortifex mucus in a ready to be nuked city where even rats can break your spine with psychic powers" as secondary objectives. They were the best though. The only one who could actually speak in person with the Original, the god himself, and keep their sanity.

One always questions things though; it's the nature of curiosity. If you aren't curious you can as well be dead. So, when professor Chevreuse called Louise to the front to demonstrate transmutation, Cog followed the clues left wide in the open by the other students and silently went under the desk.

Saito wasn't that smart it seemed. The explosion which followed shook his hiding place quite strongly, but left Saito covered only in a hefty dose of ash and dust.

The class soon afterwards erupted in yells about Louise the Zero. Zero successes. Zero rate of successes.

-She wouldn't have survived the opening ceremony- Cog thought to himself. Somewhere, the Ai nodded in silence too.

After two hours knocked cold, the triangle mage woke up and decided to teach Louise and Saito how to clean the room, she would have done the same with Cog, had he not actually been impossible to find. He strangely reappeared only afterwards, when it was time for supper. "Zero! It's Zero successes! Now I finally get it! She's a zero success mage! Lou-Lou-Louise is such a hopeless mage!" he was even singing. –Reckless. Too much even for my tastes. You should realize that from pebbles to you it's just the flick of a wrist.-

Retribution dawned swiftly, truthfully, it came with the supper. Louise sat down and handed over to Saito his bowl, only to take it away moments later. Cog simply grabbed his bowl and politely placed it back on the table, without sitting down, and then left, without a word. Saito was kind of hoping for him to come back, but instead he did not, so he suffered on an empty stomach. As he was leaving the dining room, he leaned against a wall for the hunger. A maid saw him and brought him to the kitchen, as the commoner who became a familiar he was quite famous.

That's when Saito found out where exactly the Demon had been spending the time. "SACRE BLEU!" was what the cook, a guy named Marceau, was shouting, looking at how fast Cog's hands were going with the dough he was milling around. He was throwing it in the air and then back down, back up and back down; repeatedly while enlarging it, then he made a swift movement towards the fresh tomatoes, squeezed them hard and applied them on the surface of the flat and circle dough, followed by cheese and a tip of basil. He then masterfully flung it in the oven. His right hand burst flames for a quick cooking, and seconds later it was done, out and ready to be eaten: pizza.

"Cog here has been really helpful" the maid, who presented herself as Siesta, said. "He's fast, nimble and a great cook too, the head chef Marceau is that open mouthed person over there, and they are like best friends…food seems to be their common interest" "Cog?" Saito replied curiously. "We didn't know how to call him, and he wrote his name on the flour" –Actually I had enough floor to choose only between ELI or COG. - was Cog's thought. "I see." Saito replied, avidly eating a slice of pizza which Cog had handed over to him.

The Head chef Marceau turned out to be a pretty nice guy too. He didn't care about giving over the staff food to Saito, since he was after all a friend of Cog, the dark chef. "If you're friend is cursing us with food, tell you what, I don't care!" Saito was still embarrassed though, "Is there anything I could do to repay the favor still?" "Well you could help Siesta here in delivering the cakes to the nobles" Saito nodded, eager to help the maid. Cog grabbed a platter too, and thought to himself –You know, idiots will always be idiots- "So what?" replied the AI, -Well, I mean, if I had wanted to poison them all, I could have just done that, a slow acting poison, like Ricin, would have been perfect- "We have Ricin doses" –I know, this makes them even more stupid-.

Cake delivery went well on Cog side, nobody even dared speak while he was nearby, so all in all it went well, Saito on the other hand had to take his pride back up. When would he learn? He had found a bottle on the floor, lost by a certain Guiche, and had decided to insist it was his. Scandal between him, a first year girl, and a certain Montgomery soon ensued.

So they decided to duel it out.

As stupid as it sounded, Louise was at least a bit concerned, but Saito's cool was lost, and he simply had to head off to Vestri court. Cog followed in silence. –Really, a duel to the death? Should I intervene? I was told to have fun but it does seem like a hassle- "Intergalactical rules prohibit offensive actions against beings of unknown species until diplomatic exchange has gone through. Only self-defense acts are accepted and only as long as they do not scorch more than a quarter of the world surface" the Ai dully noted.

"You're going to be lucky if you come out of this alive!" Louise snarled at Saito, as he reached the court. "I commend your courage" commented Guiche. Cog, on the other hand was watching. "Maybe I should give myself a handicap; how about a two against one? I doubt any familiar of Zero would be strong even in an army" laughter ensured next. –Is he saying I'm weak? - "Association works like that" replied the Ai.

Cog snarled. A low growl was coming from his throat. –I'll teach him the meaning of Pain, Despair and Gruesomeness! - "You can't. Offensive words do not enter into an acceptable quantity of offense requiring self-defense to be enacted" –Then I'll just have him attack me first- "that is acceptable".

Saito charged in recklessly, not thinking the least about *magic* Cog would have sighed at the obvious result, a strange construct, an automaton or maybe a golem, rose up from the grass, Guiche the Bronze was his nickname due to those things, Valkyrie he called them.

Cog stood still, waiting while Saito got beaten up badly and thrown to the side of the ring. Louise actually ran towards him, praying him not to continue fighting, but he stood up again. –That determination not to bow to anyone…that I admire- he thought, shivers going down his spine, those words. "I will not bow to anyone against my will!"

Fine, he was officially going to become his first pupil, even if unwillingly.

Cog moved. To bystanders, all they saw was the demon being there one moment, and in front of Guiche the next one. Guiche, caught by surprise by the sudden speed ordered his Valkyrie to attack. "Hostilities detected, Self-defense acceptable." It took only those words.

Guiche the bronze never understood what happened next, his heart suddenly gave away to a feeling of fear, as the demon's face turned as wicked as the most horrible of nightmares, his Valkyrie charged with their spears at Cog, who opened his arms up wide, claws stretched, -No need for a sword for practice- Erupting in a beastly laughter, he slashed. The Nanites diamond claws moved at unison, and what seemed like a single slash was in truth the slash of over a million small beings, coordinated to hit the weakest points.

Guiche started screaming, falling on the grass as Cog grew closer and closer. "PLEASE! NO! NO MORE! I GIVE UP! I SURRENDER! I YIELD! PLEASE! NO NO NOoooO" he was actually crying as Cog lifted him up with one hand, holding him by the neck.

He even let go of his bowels, pheromones were full force working on this one.

"Wait! You can't kill him!" Louise yelled at him, and at that moment, Cog looked back at her with such an evil smile that even she started shivering, though meters away, with Saito breathing hardly.

Cog nodded. Then his free hand became a fist. He didn't have to kill him. All he had to do was make him suffer. Floating ribs, side of the stomach, lungs, and all those spots are weak spots in a brawling fight. They hurt without killing. They are painful. When you had a moderate, but steady force, it becomes a brutal and effective way to make your opponent remember never, ever, again, to strike again.

Cog dropped the meat bag on the grass, satisfied. Silence was interrupted only by the sobs of Guiche, who hadn't been touched. –I do not need to get my hands dirty- Cog thought as he turned around, then helped Saito stand up and carrying him on his shoulder, brought him to rest. He had fainted too. Thankfully he was around; the pink shrimp wouldn't have been able to do nothing otherwise.

"You didn't kill him" the Ai pointed out –He told me to have fun. Killing him would have meant I'd have had to kill another one, and another one, and another one, and then it would turn into a genocide order- "You're growing soft?" –I'm here to have fun. Original orders are sacred- "Understood".


	3. Chapter 3: Revelations

Chapter 3

Saito woke up three days later, completely bandaged and hurting like hell. He could see he wasn't on the floor, but on a bed, Louise's bed. He could also see the girl sitting on a chair, sleeping exhausted, face on the table. She looked cute in her sleep, if it weren't for her personality.

Cog wasn't there. He vaguely remembered him watching the scene from far, like it didn't matter to him. Then he had felt lighter, when wielding a sword, he had yelled, and only then did Cog intervene. He had managed to see just a fuzzy figure, claws and wicked grin slash the Valkyrie like butter, he could feel there was a rhythm to it too, to his eyes it wasn't meaningless slashing, though he wasn't sure how he could tell, it was art.

The door slightly opened and the maid, Siesta, came in silently. She had a platter with food, which se silently left on the table next to Louise. Realizing Saito was awake though, she got closer to murmur, so as not to wake the noble up "Saito. Are you awake?" Saito nodded silently, trying to stand up but stopping for the pain. "You have to take it easy Saito; you were pretty much broken when you were brought here." "Did you tend to my wounds?" "No, Miss Vallière did, and also Cog. He kind of made it known to Miss Vallière that he wouldn't have you stay wounded." "I…see. I should thank him then." "He's in the library. You should eat now though" but before being able to say anything else, Louise woke up.

Saito was abruptly thrown out of bed, and piled up with the dirty clothes which had increased during the three days. He was sent to clean them fast. This closed any possibility of Louise actually caring for him. Though he kind of wondered why Cog had helped him out. Was it Brotherhood among castaways?

Once he got done with the laundry, he walked towards the library. Slowly, because his breath was slim at best. He reached the library to find out how big it actually was. Lost in awe, he didn't realize until late that someone was approaching him from behind. A tap on the shoulder turned his attention to Cog, who waved at him with the other hand. Smile on his face.

Saito was about to speak when Cog put a finger on his mouth shaking his head, making a Shhhh gesture. He then gestured him towards a panel, Saito, however, couldn't read it. "What's written on it?" he whispered. Cog looked at him with a puzzled look, puzzled was a hypothesis because it didn't actually change, but he took Saito by the hand and brought him close to an empty table were a set of books were lying.

He carefully pointed at some piece of script, where runes where inscribed, familiar runes. He then pointed at his and Saito's hand, the runes were the same. "So this book says what the runes mean?" Cog nodded. "What's written on it?" Cog looked at him silently. "I'll have to learn how to read" Cog nodded. "How can you read it though? Now that I think about it, how can you cook food we can eat?" Cog smiled.

-The guy finally realized it- "Bluff was not convincing" –No, it's perfect. Had he not realized it, I'd have given up on even trying- "Suggested course?" –Secrets increase friendships- "Revealing?" –Not everything-

Cog lifted a finger, the tapped on the table. The books closed by themselves and flung back in place. Actually, it was the nanites who did that, invisible to the naked eye however, it looked like magic. "You learned how to use magic?" Saito looked at Cog in awe. Just who was he?

Shrugging, Cog got up, and left the library, signaling to Saito to follow him.

He led him upstairs, past the usually visited corridors and more up, near the top of the tower, where the headmaster's office was. That was when Saito saw him tapping lightly at a door, and hearing a "Come forward" saw him open the door and entering. Curious, Saito followed quickly. The room he was in had an old man comfortably sleeping on his desk, and a woman lightly scribbling on a piece of paper.

"Might I help you?" the secretary asked them "You're Miss Vallière familiars aren't you? Why would you be here?" Cog nodded once, but Saito whispered to him "What are we actually doing here?"

That was when Cog spoke for the first time. "First off: stop faking sleep, Headmaster Osman. My sensors know you're wide awake" his voice was coarse and rasps came forth, the result of the nanites unstoppable flickering around his voice. Saito looked at him in silence. He had thought he'd write something down; instead it seemed he knew how to speak! Why did he lie till now then? The headmaster of the school moved back to a normal sitting posture and laughed waving a hand "I got found out! Pity I had such a nice view of Ms. Longueville's cleavage" "Secondly, I'm asking you to send a messenger towards the royal palace of this nation, to announce the arrival of a diplomatic envoy from the Intergalactical empire of the Dystopia." As he snarled orders Saito was surprised, he didn't think Cog would be so much…prideful?

"Who do you think you are to give out orders to the headmaster of the magic academy of Tristain?" Ms. Longueville yelled standing up. "Someone who can snap you neck like a twig before you can fling out a wand." Cog replied with ease. "Oh my, I'm sure there's no need for this. Ms. Longueville, please calm down. As for you Mr. familiar, might I ask why not bring this up sooner?" "The same reason you didn't bring the news of Gandalfr's appearance up. You didn't want a ruckus, didn't you?" Cog replied. "By the way, you can refer to me as Commander." He added after a small moment. Saito however was lost. Commander, Intergalactical empire, diplomatic envoy, what was happening?

"So" Osman looked amused, he'd have to do his best to keep things easy. "What made you change your mind?" "Nothing, it's just that I heard about the upcoming Familiar's show, your students didn't talk about anything else, considering the princess is going to be probably present." He pointed that out casually, but both Osman and Cog knew the implications. They were equal fighters in the battle of words. "So why have me send a messenger?" "Because I knew you'd say no to the messenger, I'd then compromise with a private meeting with your princess, and I'm cutting this conversation down to the bare minimum" "Smart" Osman had to admit. "Why should I play along though?" Osman replied, the question made Cog smile, "Because there is a slight possibility everyone who has eaten food from the kitchen in the last week might be poisoned. Or worst. Do you want to take the chance of having your precious students suffer?"

Saito was at a loss of words. Cog was actually a demon. To go as far as menace the entire magic academy population, in so little time? Louise would have a fit or maybe even two if she ever got wind of this. The headmaster started thinking. "I don't feel sick; this however might be a sign I am. I'm sure you'd thought this through before coming here with those kinds of menaces, so I'll agree to arrange you a private meeting with the princess herself." "Smart man, in the next suppers I'll place the antidotes. As long as they'll eat it within the next month, nobody is bound to suffer". "Of course the princess will be guarded" Osman pointed out, "Matters not, had I actually wanted to kill anyone, know that nobody would still be breathing in half of this planet" as he turned to leave he actually remembered why he had asked Saito to follow him, except proving he knew the boy was Gandalfr. "I was nearly forgetting: by the intergalactical laws of encounter, the boy is under my protection until his world will be judged. If any of your students, like that Guiche, tries physically harming him again, be warned I won't back down like last time"

Osman was quite wondering if the Commander had been serious during the fight against Guiche, he and professor Colbert had watched the scene through a scrying magic, and later on the infirmary had warned him that Guiche de Gramont was also recovering from a psychological breakdown. Yet he didn't think that was all of it. This Commander was going to be a really hard opponent, if he got angry. He had however made a fake pass. "His world will be judged?" Osman didn't understand what judgment the commander was talking about. "Yes. Every world and it's inhabitant undergo judgment; it is the practice of deciding wherever a world is worthy of being part of the Intergalactical empire of the Dystopia or not, and in the second case, wherever it would be more profitable to exploit it or let it be until later judgment."

"Will you meet the princess to judge our world?" "A bit of yes and no" Cog sighed at those words "I will meet her to make things clear about the situation. I am by your standards a familiar bound to *contract* with the girl named Louise. By my standards, I have been forcefully removed from the duty assigned to me by my direct superior, and am a hostage, if still kindly treated." He was about to specify the *irony* of the kindly treated word, but he kept his tongue in check.

"No matter what happens, thus, I will not be used to solve problems may they be political, economic or military. I will not give you the plans for advanced weaponry, nor will I give suggestions to enhance your score for the judgment test. I am a neutral entity, and I will act accordingly" "yet you tried to poison my students" "Would you have listened otherwise?" "Point taken…oh boy, what happens if we don't pass?" "Considering you are not technologically advanced and do not pose a threat to space faring empires, you'll probably be left alone to be judged again in a couple of centuries or wherever you achieve space flight before that term." -Or if a Nerghulian invasion happens nearby and an advanced system position is required-

Osman nodded, it wasn't a bad thing. He seemed like a demon with a head on his shoulders, though bossy, arrogant and all. Yet he accepted it all. "Fine then, is there anything else?" "No, I will resume being a silent familiar till your princess appears for the Familiar contest. Saito, we may leave"

With a wave of his hand, Cog, or commander, left the room and Saito mouth open followed him outside.

"You can talk" Cog looked at him in silence. "I know you can talk!" he added again if a bit angry. Cog nodded. "You lied about not being able to!" he nodded again. "You know of my world" he nodded again.

"What or who are you really?" he shook his head and dismissed it all with a hand wave. It wasn't important.

"It's important to me! I'm going to tell everyone you know?" Cog laughed. –No you won't- "You think I'm joking?" Cog nodded. Saito sighed and his shoulders slumbered down. "You're right. I can't do this to you. You did save me from Guiche…and helped me with Louise's temper…" Cog nodded at each of Saito's words.

"So, what do we do now?" Saito asked him, and Cog, simply, shrugged.

A couple of lazy days passed, during which Saito managed to get entangled with a certain Kirche Zerbst, who just so happen to be on bad family terms with Louise. Cog knew a saying that said something like this "The universe hates some people, and is outright racist to others" he would have taught it to Saito, had he not gotten a fill of beatings and whippings. All without lifting a finger for him, because they were his mistakes, after all, he couldn't always save him, he had to learn to use some of his spine too.

It was during a late night, after Saito had been gifted a sword by Louise that disaster struck. Kirche had bought a sword too, the one Saito had wanted but that for money reasons he hadn't managed to obtain. Cog had been silently laughing at the scene for a while, since the sword the red head girl had brought was made of even worst materials than the talking rusty one.

The blue haired girl was reading a book all the time and Cog had naturally started perching on her shoulder, reading in silence. She had no problems, it seemed, and since he was a fast reader too things went on well for a while. Until, as said before, the disaster struck "I say we solve this once and for all!" the fiery Kirche said.

Outside the moons illuminated brightly the night, and the night sky, devoid of smog, was a sight to behold. At least for those ignorant of what was happening on the majority of those stars. Once as a kid, Cog remembered telling his father how beautiful stars were, his father had replied "That's because you're still an idiot. Idiots can dream but can't survive". He was right, he had always been right. Furthermore he had also become an idiot, an idiot who disappeared in a black hole bringing with himself one of the Nerghulian's most powerful assault fleet. That kind of idiot wasn't worth remembering anymore.

Saito was tied up and held on a side of the rope, while the contest *shoot the rope and Saito gets the sword* started up. Louise actually managed to crack the wall behind him, but not even touch the rope. She seemed to have talent for destruction though. Kirche on the other hand had far more control, and won the duel. A bit after, a golem attacked. It was as high as a Mauler class unit, but by far weaker. Cog was unfazed, while the rest of the troop scrambled away running.

He did camouflage himself though, since he was curious.

Fouquet of the crumbling dirt had decided to cut things to a close that night. Grab the staff of destruction and leave. He wanted that staff, and he wanted it fast. So once he got his chance to blast through the vault thanks to the brat's assistance, he took it and quickly grabbed what he had come in there for.

Leaving as quick as he had arrived, once Louise, Tabitha, Kirche and Saito came back on the site, the golem was gone and Cog too.

The next day, Louise was pouting, or preoccupied, or both actually. Cog hadn't shown himself for breakfast and she was worried. He was her familiar too and between the two, he was the most serious and dependable. Now she was left only with the dog in heat.

"Aren't you worried about your friend, familiar?" she asked Saito who shook his head "Cog can take care of himself" "Cog?" "It's his name" "since when does he have a name?" "He wrote it with flour, in the kitchen, didn't you know?" "No, because nobody told me! What was he doing in the kitchen?" "Cooking, you didn't realize he's the reason food has gotten better around here?" She had to admit she hadn't realized, but she would die before actually saying it out loud. "I'll teach him not to meddle himself with commoners!" –You can try that…see how it goes- Saito thought, thinking about who Cog really was.

They ended up getting called because they were witnesses of the crime; it was just when the teachers began attacking each other on responsibilities that the headmaster Osman stopped the fighting. "it's everybody's fault and nobody's; no one ever thought the vault could be breached." That's when Mr. Colbert asked "Where is Ms. Longueville?" "Yeah, where is she?" Osman asked again, nobody knew, but she came running from the side of the corridor, panting "I was out investigating" and that moment Cog appeared right next to her. From thin air to presence, in his hands he held the… "the staff of destruction, you found it!" "what?" Ms. Longueville had yet to turn around, and Cog's appearance had been so silent she couldn't even sense it. Cog simply threw it at Longueville's feet, pointing but one finger at her.

"Ms. Longueville…it seems this familiar here is accusing you of having stolen it." Osman pointed out, as the other teachers were drawing their wands "This is nonsense! I…" "How does this staff work? I am Fouquet the crumbling earth and I can't make a damn staff work!" came the noise into the air, soon followed by a brief appearance of said words repeated this time by Ms. Longueville, covered in a black cape, and shown onto the wall nearby.

"This is preposterous! Headmaster you…" know who this guy really is, but the sentence was left unfinished, a brutal hit on the back of her head signed a concussion which would leave her senseless for a while.

Then Cog looked at the headmaster, who nodded, and then said "Well, it appears miss Louise's familiar is exceptionally skilled. I'll have to think about how to reward it's master." He added. Louise could only bow her head in honor while Kirche pouted something along the lines of "not fair! The zero probably ordered him out from last night!" but was quickly made quiet by Tabitha shaking her head.

As said before, disaster struck that day.

Louise entered her room, this time making sure that Cog was in too. Then, with a set of flamboyant expressions, started showing off how much he shouldn't act on his own, without his master approval, and how he should feel honored he was believed by the headmaster and not held direct responsible of the crime. He sighed, nodding. Then he stood up and left the room again. "This time I'm coming with you!" Louise snapped, hurriedly running behind him. "Don't you dare become invisible! How did you manage that in the first place? Is it a special ability of your race?" –No, it's the nanites refraction of light given by their naturally inclined diamond bodies; you just need the skill to rearrange them- He nodded, better keep it simple. "I was forgetting: You are prohibited from going into the kitchen ever again!" To this Cog actually stopped. He turned around as Louise bit her lip, but she had to make it clear. "You must not mingle with other commoners! Do you understand?"

He got closer, a claw ready on his right hand. "I am your master, you must obey my orders!" she yelled again though making a step back. He got closer still.

Close enough he uttered a single, rasping, growl. "Fine. Fine. You can use the kitchen. Don't…don't hurt me" she whispered, scared senseless. He nodded and left for the kitchen.

Disaster struck that day. Saito was ready to go to the ball held with his shiny golden sword, when a black humor Louise came in, and with a whip, started teaching Saito about proper familiar's manners; the blade through hardships, broke.

"Capable of cutting anything, but not to withstand whipping, what a lousy blade" sneered Derflinger. Who turned out to be that night partner of Saito for the ball. What a disaster.


	4. Chapter 4: The problem of Albion

Chapter 4

"Once an Elite always Elite" yelled a voice at him, while he was running along a dark corridor. "Welcome you sissies! Now start dying!" another voice, followed by a cacophony of many others, "As much as it pains, seems he took from his mother. Nothing more than soldier genes in him" "he's going down" "You think this is darkness? LOOK AT THE DARKNESS" "SIGNALS INBOUND" "AMBUSH!" the screams grew, until eventually, a pierce shrieking one waked Cog up from his sleep.

He panted slowly, reassessing his position in the room. His back leaned against the wall, looking around in silence. Luckily he hadn't woken up anybody else. In silence, he left Louise's room, leaving behind a sleeping Saito...

He made his way upstairs, passed even the headmaster's office, and opening a window, climbed till the top of the tower's spiked roof. There, perched like an eagle, he looked at the bright moonlight. "Only idiots think the stars are beautiful" he muttered to himself.

He would have liked a liquor of sort, but he had cut off drinking and smoking. Better not restart bad habits. "You seem sad" the Ai queried, -I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I mean, I have no orders except having fun. Fun is a fleeting thing- "As is sadness, and despair" the Ai replied "Still, you should know what is fun" –No. I don't; - "If I were to make a chart, on your top ten things we have killing and slaughtering" –It's not fun, it's my duty-

"Second place is assassination" –My duty- "Third place poisoning" –My duty- "Special operations" –Duty again- "Tank driving" –Do you see tanks around here?- "Sieges" –Duty- "Spaceship battle faring" –Duty- "Cooking" –Necessity- "Planetary warfare" –duty- "Anarchy brewing" –Duty again- "I give up" –Good.-

"You could however start singing" –I'm worse than tone deaf. You remember how I actually won that death duel by singing at the enemy? - "Intelligent display of uncommon tactics. Still, playing a guitar?" –Please, can you simply leave me and my thoughts alone for the night? - "No" was the firm reply of the Ai.

Cog sighed, and then flung down from the top of the tower, carefully hitting stones of the tower wall while descending, to increase its speed towards the hard earth. Just seconds before impacting on the ground, he back flipped, landing on his feet, nanites slowing to near null the impact's strength.

During this brief period Saito managed to get angrily beaten up. As Cog got back in the room, he managed to see the final scenes and shaking his head stopped Louise's hand from continuing. "This perverted familiar needs to be punished!" she yelled, whip in hand. Cog shook his head. The whip wasn't useful. "Thank you Cog, she was like wanting to kill me!" Cog waved a dismissal hand. Then he made a no-no gesture to Louise. "Don't you dare get the same habits as that, that dog! He tried to jump on me! On the bed!" Cog shook his head shrugging.

He flung Saito back on his own hay bed, and then he went towards his, mimicking a yawn. Louise, wishing more for sleep than for answers, crawled back into her bed, thinking about what Cog had been doing till late at night. She promised to herself to follow him the next night, as finally slumber took her.

The next morning, Cog was missing again. Growling slightly to be left again with only the perverted dog, Louise kind of wondered since when was she becoming attached to him, one familiar was more than enough right? At least Saito wasn't leaving her side every moment. As they headed to class, the announcement of the possible presence of the Flower of Tristain, the princess Henrietta, was made by a twig wearing Mr. Colbert.

In the meantime, Cog had moved onwards to intercept the carriages. The late night perching had enabled him to use his binoculars, merged into his helmet, to find the direction of arrival. The carriages were lightly guarded, at least for his standards. First off, they were clearly showing the royalty symbols. An idiocy if you wish to protect a mark. Secondly, the soldiers seemed more on parade than on duty. They were nobles, probably, which meant they were chosen for their names and not for their strength. The only one who vaguely seemed knowing what his job demanded was a guy with the strangest, largest hat ever. He rode on a griffin, and seemed far more apt in the air.

Still his occasion happened; the carriage had two people inside, an old man and a girl, of dark violet hair, -the same hair color of half-breeds. - He thought "There is no match of half breeds matching her description" –Let it be, it's probably a coincidence- as the man called from the carriage the wide hat guy, presentations, some of them at least, were made and captured by his ears. Princess Henrietta, Cardinal Mazarin and the guy called Wardes exchanged petty talk and kid magic. Flying flowers to make a bouquet? Sickening, if not overly idiotic; these guys knew nothing about protection. Really, had he wanted to butcher them, he'd only need to wait in cover under the road; he'd doubt the unicorns would even care.

Suddenly, the carriage which held both Cardinal Mazarin and Princess Henrietta stopped. "What's happening?" the cardinal asked to Wardes, who was still on his mount, going alongside the carriage. "The unicorns stopped, your highness, they seem nervous." Mazarin's look was curious, "Take a look along the road Wardes" to which Wardes complied by bowing his head. His griffin moved carefully, as Wardes held his wand in hand. The unicorns were quite actually foaming from their mouths, desperate to leave, instead of going forward. The coachman was having a hard time holding them at bay too.

Wardes looked around the road for a little, but found nothing, so made his way back towards the carriage. "Your highness, there appears to be nothing wrong with the road" "I understand Wardes, then let's proceed in guiding Her majesty princess Henrietta safely towards the…academy" the cardinal seemed to be in great fatigue while speaking, though Wardes was more sure it was about the stress than something else.

"Make those unicorns move then Wardes and keep keen eyes and ears out there" he added too, to which Wardes bowed his head again, before going to speak with the coachman.

"Cardinal Mazarin, is everything fine?" Henrietta asked puzzled, seeing how the cardinal was sweating quite a lot, the heat was barely noticeable too, so it did seem strange. "Your majesty, please, whatever happens, do not scream" Mazarin muttered pleading. "What is going on cardinal?" "He wants me to tell you that he's going to show himself soon" "Who is cardinal?" Henrietta was puzzled, had the cardinal gone mad? "he also wants to inform you that gasps and oh my's and feinting is out of question too" "Cardinal, if this is a joke, know that it's tasteless" "Your majesty, as a final helping, he will now touch your right hand before appearing" "Card…"

Henrietta stopped speaking, especially when something hard, like steel, touched her right hand. Tapping it gently twice, but with a cold that made the princess shiver, she gasped "Don't do it your majesty, don't" the cardinal pleaded, so, albeit hard, she placed her hands over her mouth and kept her mouth shut tight.

Seconds later, next to Cardinal Mazarin, holding a sharp clawed hand over his neck, was a demon. A black demon with horrible sharp teethes and a wicked smile, completely black and with six red eyes. Thankfully she had placed hands in front of her mouth, because the thought of screaming had never abandoned her. One of the demons that founder Brimir fought! One of them, in her carriage!

"Now, he's going to speak" Cardinal Mazarin said finally, before slouching against the side of the carriage. "He's sleeping" Cog said then, a raspy voice, and his eyes set on the girl. "I did not kill him. I can though, as I can kill you, your carriage guards, and everyone else in the next mile without so much as breaking up a sweat" he added, calmly. "Now, remove your hands from your mouth and overcome your shock; I have things to tell you" He spoke lowering his voice, slightly by the minute. "Are you…a demon? Who summoned you beast? Can you tell me this before killing me? " the princess was slowly regaining her confidence, if only she could get to aim her scepter…where did her scepter go! It was on her lap till… "Looking for this?" the demon said, nodding at her scepter, on his lap.

The demons of old were cunning and powerful foes, this was true then! She was facing a demon! "Now listen to me, girl" how dare he address her with such a smallish commoner talk? "I'm here to judge this world, and I'm going to judge this world. Nothing you can do will change that. Nothing you can try will change that. Heck, nothing your god, whoever it is or whatever form it can take, can change that" he lifted but one finger, and she suddenly felt so weak, really, weak. "Now listen to me carefully. I'm going to erase Cardinal Mazarin here memory about our encounter, as I did with Ms. Longueville…or Fouquet the crumbling earth, after capturing her; you, I and headmaster Osman of the academy are going to be the only one to know about the rest of this chit chat. Refuse and I will know." She felt scared now, scared senseless, was he toying with her emotions? Her feelings were being changed in the blink of an eye. She felt bitter about being powerless, she was royalty, powerful and yet so weak in the face of this monster.

"This is going to be a short story about the Dystopia; you need to know it, in order to understand what a judgment really is." The demon comfortably sat in the carriage, she should have thought about escaping, but his voice was so captivating she simply couldn't. "We were born from the decision of one, we grew up shunned by everyone else, and we brought forth change; a brutal, radical and extreme change of morality and ideals." This wasn't how the demons fought Brimir in the stories, and what was the Dystopia? It wasn't mentioned in any of the sacred books. "We are an intergalactical Empire, we hold planets in the most disparate sectors of space, and we hold our will towards our…to put it simply, our God-father-dictator and creator: The Original." "The origin of all the demons is called The Original?" "We are not demons. We are an advanced civilization. You misunderstand: this is simply not my true form" Cog replied, moving his clawed hand in front of Henrietta, who remained motionless, as she could see the claws retract and assume a more…human, form.

"So…what do you want from me?" "To know that there are laws I cannot break. I am a familiar under contract, summoned here by a certain Louise Vallière de la Françoise;" Henrietta tried hard not to gasp at the mention of her childhood friend. Poor Louise…but he hadn't mentioned her among those who knew… "But that is also considered, from my point view, a forceful removal from duty, and a hostage situation. You should know that the reason I didn't blow up the academy was because I was, at the time, in a tight pinch, so I was in a good humor." "What does this have to do with judgment?" "I'm getting there girl, sit tight and let me finish" Cog replied waving a hand in dismissal "so, as I was saying, I cannot give help in any form, be it physical, material, be it through suggestions or advanced war machines, or tactical insight. I'm a referee, neutral to the sides in play. Can't tell you what you're doing right, nor what you're doing wrong. I just sign the paper with the voting. Once it's done, it's done. Then it's up to The Original himself. You get one audience with god after the decision is made, if you can convince him that the result is wrong, then he changes it…the point is, the person who gets chosen is randomly taken from the entire sentient population"

"So, you're going to judge this world, give us a mark like in school, and then we either pass or I don't know what happens, or we fail and I don't know what happens?" "You pass; you get an upgrade, so to say, and enter the Intergalactical Empire. You fail and you either get ignored for centuries, or till space flight, which comes first, then you retake the test. You fail; you get gunned down for another century or more." –Better not tell her about the exterminatio sentiens procedure-

Henrietta was shocked. She had always thought her world to be vast. She knew that Tristain was a small country; compared to the world she had always felt it was small. Comparing it to the stars? To thousands and thousands of stars? The person she was talking to, the thing, the alien, was one of many, many…was there a number for it? She could nearly see them all, numbers which outstretched the infinity, not all of Tristain, or Tristain and Germania, not even all of Halkeginia united would be able to do a thing.

She was paralyzed in shock "Headmaster Osman will have you encounter me in private again. Do not refer to him of our meeting now, I told you this beforehand, so that you may have time to prepare yourself, and recollect your thoughts." Then grinning widely, he became invisible. "What is your name?" "I have none. Cog is what I chose to be called for now." Henrietta would have made a remark, but just then the Cardinal sprung back to life, looking around perplexed, "Your majesty, I am deeply sorry, how long have I dozed off?" "Not much, Cardinal Mazarin, not much" she replied meekly, before letting out a sigh. She had a lot of things to think about during the voyage now. "That's the seventeenth time I heard you sigh…"

The parade was, in the eyes of the Headmaster, a success. Flowers flew and people cheered, guards were standing ready and everything was simply perfect. Except the demon standing next to him, especially close to him. He could actually feel it staring at his neck, picking up the easiest veins to cut. He would behave himself though, with little Miss Vallière and Saito near he wouldn't show off his true nature. Still he was still thinking something was wrong; especially when the princess' face showed preoccupation while smiling through the crowd who was cheering on her. Osman knew a fake smile when he saw one; he looked at Cog, who was slightly behind the rest of the crowd, then at the princess. When the princess' eyes and cog's met, he could see it, the glint of understanding. What had that demon done to the royal highness?

The meeting was unexpectedly short. Cog spoke like he had met the princess for the first time, and the princess faked it well enough too. What surprised the princess, however, was at the ending. "Now that the highest in rank of this country knows, the rest can forget" –Except Saito, since he's from another one- The small nanites, which encompassed him, formed an invisible string, which flew faster than sound at Osman's head, without even a feeling of pain, they send a small pulse of electricity to the areas of memory, actually being so small, to effectively target single neurons, and change their disposition; memory wiping or memory modification, depending on the user's ability. Osman sunk down on the floor, as Henrietta let out a small gasp. "Now it's only you and me who know, little girl. I'll leave you with a warning though; don't think you can trick me. Don't try it nor bother with it. I am an Elite class Commander of Genocide, to earn half my badges I had to murder billions. One stupid girl more or less, doesn't change the weight on my shoulder or the blood on my hands" with those menacing words, Cog left the room.

Cog entered Louise's room to find Saito sitting in the hay, watching a nervously fidgeting Louise. Noticing the door opening, the girl had spun to the sight of Cog, but had stopped on her tracks, going back to…fidgeting? He made an inquisitive look toward Saito. "She's been like this for a while now" "I say she's got something" the talking sword, Derflinger, added. He had thought about an AI gone mad, but since no trace of technology was found, he left it in the magic realm. Cog shrugged, getting to his hay bed, to grab some sleep. His bed was behind Louise's one, thus if someone had opened the door, it wouldn't have been immediately visible. This had been a determined choice by Cog, who could, from there, easily slip out of the window, or roll under Louise's bed were the need for cover arise.

When he woke up, the morning after, he reviewed the Ai recordings. Why was it that important things happened while he was sleeping? WHY! "You left the *don't wake me up even if a Scortifex strolls by* option enabled" his Ai replied simply. –My fault. I admit. So, how did I end up actually on a horse, me, an Elite class Commander of genocide? You should have shocked anyone so stupid to touch me- "The boy, Gandalfr, touched me" –Being able to use any weapon, he knew the safe code and fail safe mechanisms, right? - "Precisely; He even managed to speak them" –remind me not to get touched by him again-

He counted four persons. Three horses, one Griffon. The strange hat idiot, Wardes, the guy, Guiche? How did they actually manage to convince him to come? He had given him traumas at the very least…oh wait. –You erased his memory too? - "You gave the order" –Since when are you actually not understanding my orders? It was implicit to leave him traumatized! - "Do you want me to rearrange the outcome once more?" –No. It's fine like this. Is that a Mole I'm seeing under the radar?- "Yes, Guiche Familiar's, Verdanti" –You know what, I don't want to know.- "That over there is Louise's fiancé, and the stupid hat guy" –That much I knew, I did watch the video recordings- "Oh good". The Ai was acting strange lately.

The voyage kept becoming interesting. The fool, not counting on the difference in stamina between horses and flying creatures, kept on going for a long while. Cog in the end lifted the horse on his back, a feat which made both Guiche and Saito open their mouth in awe, and then sprint. The guy wanted a race? He'd get a race. The horse was obviously screaming as possessed, but that didn't stop Cog from making his point: you want to fight an Elite, you get to fight an Elite. This resulted actually in Cog making fun of Wardes by simply being at the appointed spots hours before the rest of the group.

Wardes had tried accelerating once, but his griffin had…refused. Something about beastly instincts of whose superior and who's not.

Actually funny was when they got reached by Sylphid, Tabitha's familiar, which mounted also Kirche and Tabitha herself. Another horrible harem-like scene would have followed, but Cog threw a horse in the middle of it; this was enough to make them behave. Dark claws and inhuman strength made people more meek and complacent.

They reached the city only to be divided into different room, Cog, Guiche and Saito would end up in one, while Tabitha and Kirche in another, the remaining couple would head towards the last one free. Cog actually carried Saito by the neck, out of the tavern and onto the street, after assuring himself that Guiche had no trouble finding *love* with the barmaid.

In a dark alley forgotten by the light of the sun even at midday, at noon it was even darker. Cog flung Saito against the wall of the nearby house, with just enough strength to daze him; coming unexpectedly, Saito didn't manage to defend himself, and fell down on his knees, panting. "Listen up, brat" Cog muttered "touch my armor again, and I swear I'll have to kill you" he nearly growled his rage. "Knowledge on usage or crafting of this armor is strictly prohibited on those not judged equal beings. You got that?" Saito coughed up a moment, breathing hard "Yes…it's just…you were sleeping" "Doesn't matter, listen up, kid, I'm now going to teach you how to live. So, listen carefully" grabbing Saito by his collar and lifting him up to face level, which still was higher than Saito's.

"I am a Mass murderer, a killer, a butcher, I am the most twisted and sick and psychotic individual on the face of the galaxy, and I'm proud of it. I'm proud of being a soldier, a tool to the Original's will. You know why? How I can coexist with this? How I can stand getting suicidal orders, one after the other? It's because there's something I believe in. I don't believe in heaven or hell, or anything else. I believe in the Original goodwill. He's got reasons, and his reasons are always to benefit us, his children, and his creations. So, I'm going to use some of his goodwill, and help you out." He let Saito go, and without someone to hold him, Saito fell on the ground of the port city. "I have now linked a part of your right ear with some of my nanites. You know what they are since you touched them before. I will be able to mentally communicate with you, and I will be able to hear you talk" he added then "I'm going to give you instructions, and explain stuff. You on the other hand must ask questions in a way not to bring suspicion"

Cog then brought his hand down, in front of Saito's face. "You want to go back home, don't you? See your mother, or father. You're just a kid thrown into a big bad world filled with glorified assholes and bastards. Well, I can't directly help you, what I can do however, is make sure you get to make intelligent choices. So, what do you say? You want help, or not?"

For a brief instant, Saito was on the verge of crying. Being thrown around, the pain was understandable, Cog's ire wasn't, but he was used to Louise's , still, all those words, they hurt, they hurt worse than bee stings. "No tears boy. No need for tears. They obfuscate your vision; it can be deadly on a battlefield" the voice of Cog pinged inside his ear; it wasn't like the raspy one from before. It seemed more human, it even sounded…worried. "I like this voice better you know" he replied, as he grabbed Cogs hand.

"The rasping is because of the nanites" "excessive movement to keep the armor stable and effective" Saito finished the sentence. "Oh yes. Stop touching my armor" Cog added again but this time, hearing it in the ear, it sounded more as a joking sound, truthfully, he then gave Saito a small punch on the shoulder.

"Let's go eat something, the night is young, and we're both starving" Cog proposed, "Agreed".


	5. Chapter 5: Death marks a new start

Chapter Five

"Do you think it's edible?" Saito questioned Cog's taste in food. They were next to a stand, where some strange colored meat was being served. "Yes, it is." The reply, which came buzzing to his ears, was truthfully coming from the demon-like creature standing watch over the transaction, paying with his money. Saito had wondered where Cog had managed to earn that amount of money, but he didn't want to inquire so soon, after all, earlier he had thrown him off against a wall with ease. Furthermore, he didn't actually care.

The food was served on a wooden stick by a greasy old lady who saluted the two bizarre people as nothing stranger than what a port city can actually offer. She did make a sign of some sort of holy symbol at the first sight of Cog, however. Though reassurance that Cog wasn't a demon, but just a magic familiar, had sufficed; "You see, you've got a big problem: you hope to be taken seriously when you yourself aren't" Cog spoke while simply chewing down on the meat, for the first time, Saito could actually hear him chew on the food, and not just see it magically disappear.

"What do you mean?" "I mean, if you want to be taken seriously, then act like a grown up. If you had gotten stranded on a desert island, on your planet, would that have changed things? Sure, you would have probably died had there been no way of sustenance, but that's grabbing the Saulirs' tail" "What's a Saulirs?" "A sub product of the Nerghulian reproduction system; you don't want to meet one. It's a bipedal creature with spikes and chitin skin, bundled by a set of really thin hair all around it's body, and a long tail, even thinner, it uses it to literally rip your organs inside out" Saito at the thought stopped for a second from eating. "You ever fought one?" "I fought a platoon size of those things on Cartyv 5. Lost a dozen men but held the damn rock."

Saito was more at ease now, he found himself surprised of the quick change of emotions which twirled inside of him, but he was finally close to someone who at the very least seemed to know what was going on, or who was actually trained to get his skin home, his chances for home were increasing, minute by minute. He'd listen to Cog speak as long as he wanted, it even was interesting. "You said the Saulirs are from the reproduction system something of the Nerghulian. Are those actually the Nerghulian things babies?" "No. The Nerghulian species doesn't have children or families, they have hosts. Nerghulians are spores. They reproduce by merging with anything which breathes lives or is capable of producing energy. They take over and assume the most hostile form ever." "How do you defeat one of those?" "You genocide an entire planet of its life, you burn its atmosphere, you leave nothing to chance. You sacrifice anything and anyone who has come close to being contaminated, and once you're done, you make sure by killing it again."

"You're lying! You said you fought them before!" "I fought Saulirs' mind you. Once in a host the spores do not leave it, the death of the host is the death of the spores. Furthermore, we have nanites suit apt for the job. They can stop molecules; they are more than apt at stopping spores" "Can I have one too?" "Nope" "So, how long are you going to lie to Louise?" "For as long as I deem it profitable or necessary". Saito remained silent for a while "I don't like that Wardes guy. He seems too touchy with Louise" "He's her fiancé; he can be touchy how much he wants" "I know it's just…" "You better not get love struck" "me? In love with her? You saw how she treats me?" "Yes, and I also saw how you deserved half the things she did. Act mature, and you'll breach any heart; especially hers, since even a rock would have seen that all she wants is someone to actual speak with her".

"How can you be so sure?" "she's been called the Zero all her school life, she's probably afraid to fail again, she jumps up on every occasion to prove her strength, no matter what it is or how hard it can actually be. Trust me; I've had my share of problems as squad leader." "I hear you speaking of battles and wars and genocide…how old are you actually?" Saito asked, curiosity in his eyes, maybe he'd have to change the way he was addressing him, "It depends on the planet and it's rotation along the sun's axis" Cog replied "I am, to your standards, something like two hundred and thirty five years old." "You're…a geezer. You don't sound like one" Saito pointed out, thinking about how maybe, under the armor, laid a really old wrinkled face with a very long white beard.

"The average lifespan of the race I belong to has increased exponentially over the centuries. Technically, unless I die on the battlefield, I could live on forever. Nobody actually does that though, suicide is a common escape option." Saito didn't know what to reply after that comment. He kind of wondered how it would be to be eternally young; all the people who would eventually die, leaving you alone. "You seem to have no weaknesses, you know? Immortal, ultra powerful, skilled; do you have a weakness? Or are you boasting yourself?" Cog simply shook his head, laughing bitterly. "Trust me, Hiraga Saito, there will always be something stronger than you, more powerful and more cunning; the moment you stop evolving, advancing and getting stronger is the moment you die".

"You didn't answer me" "because I can't; I know what I can do, but I also know what the universe can throw against me; even the strongest can all fall to chance" "You ever saw that happen?" "Once, and it's a tale I never want to recall again" "It's a sad one?" "it's worse than that, Saito; Hope to have a brief yet happy life, rather than a long one" Cog's tone grew sadder by the second, Saito decided not to press the argument further, "Though now you can tell me, what the hell was this meat?" "I said it was eatable; if you really want to know, it's a mass of compressed earthworms, cooked in oil old five days". Saito's face turned green that night.

The next morning, someone knocked at the door of the room Saito shared with Cog and Guiche. Cog had slept in mid-air. Though he made it clear, repeatedly, that every time Saito had to wake up to go to the bathroom, so did he wake up because of the noise. Never had he seen before someone with that weak of a stomach. The knocks kept coming, so Saito groggily went to open the door. In front of him was Wardes. "I have heard from Louise, my fiancée, that you are the legendary Gandalfr" Cog sneered in his helmet "this is why I don't speak with the girl: she's a big mouth." "I want to see if you really are as strong as the legend says…though seeing how there are two of you, maybe I should take turns?" "Cog doesn't like fighting, I'll take your challenge" Saito replied. –Nice one, but he'll probably hang you like a coat of arms on the wall- "Fine then, let us go down to the duel grounds of the inn, once a long time ago, it used to be a famous spot for fighting"

Cog followed them silently walking behind. "Listen up kid: when the duel starts, whatever happens, keep your guard up. Don't charge in. Keep the damn guard up. He'll try and goad you into attacking. He'll call you sissy, chicken, or terms like that. Let them come. Then, fake falling for them after a while and charge straight in. Half the way through though, roll to the right, and then pierce." Saito looked at cog with an air of doubt and perplexity. "Trust me, he wants probably to show off how good he is; he'll have you charge, one way or another. Be careful though, whatever I say, do it immediately. No doubt, no questioning, and maybe, maybe I repeat, you might just put up a nice show" –winning will be out of question however-

Wardes and Saito reached the arena of the inn, only to find Louise there, "What's going on Wardes?" she asked perplexed "My dear Louise, your familiar and I are going to duel" "Familiar? Are you going to challenge Cog?" "No my precious, Gandalfr here" "Wait, why?" "No need to worry, it's just a training for me" "yeah, training, let's just get it over with" muttered Saito, taking Derflinger into his hands. Feeling light and ready to fight like never before, yet not making a single step. "Hold it diagonally in front of you. Little bit higher, yes, well like that" the counsel from Cog was helpful. At least he started hoping not to get a bad defeat. "Not charging right in? Louise, is this the best your familiar can do?" Wardes had his wand in one hand, it looked like a small sword, "His wand is reinforced with a steel frame, it's small and nimble, and you need to remember this: he'll aim for close combat, or range one with the wand, you need to keep to the middle ground." Saito had no idea of what middle ground Cog was speaking of. He simply waited.

"A chicken would have at least had the courtesy to flee; maybe this is a commoner, who faked being Gandalfr just to be close to my sweetheart" Wardes said smiling at Louise "now!" Saito charged in sword in hand. "DUCK" Wardes was prepared to block the charging and seemingly easy blow from the amateur, but when his wand moved to counter, Saito was no longer there, "PIERCE" Wardes made a quick movement backwards, it was the only thing he could do against an attack which left him no way to parry. He could only dodge. "Now, JUMP TO THE RIGHT" Saito had no idea why, but he obeyed, had he stayed there, just a second later a strong gust of wind would have thrown him against the wall, "RUN towards him!" Saito's heart was pounding, he never felt as alive as in the midst of this battle. "Now KNEEL" true enough, Saito didn't question again. He could feel his knees getting scraped; however, when the gust of wind hit him, the strength was barely just enough to actually get him back standing. "PRESS FORWARD AND SWING RIGHT LEFT" as Saito did that again, Warded had no choice but to actually parry, this kid had amateur movements, yet seemed to have good instincts; veteran like instincts.

As a captain of the Griffin knights, to actually have to move backwards in a duel was a humiliation big enough, to be brought to fight seriously against a commoner and a kid? This had to be the Gandalfr power. The next moment a sword gushed forward from his side, the kid had waited no time; he had taken the momentum of the parry to run to his side again. It was a crude, but effective tactic. His right hand moved to his sword, and moments later he managed to disarm the kid.

"My win" Wardes muttered, slightly sweating. "But you've got potential, potential to protect my darling, but potential alas is not enough. Still who trained you?" "A friend from another world" "Keep it a secret then, if you don't want to tell me"

"Got to stand my ground, won't be turned around, and I'll keep the world from dragging me down" Cog was actually singing, an old tune at that too, he was really happy for some reason, yet, since Saito was with the others down in the tavern, he couldn't ask him what he had to be happy about. That's when a loud crash came from outside, followed by soldiers, mercenary probably, flinging arrows inside the tavern. Wardes had barely managed to fling a table as a shield, and Cog had hastily disappeared, as always. "What's going on?" Saito gasped. "You remember Fouquet? Well, she's out here with a big golem. I think it's best if you lot retreat" "The mission is completed if at least half the group makes It through" Wardes muttered, and Tabitha nodded pointing at Kirche and Guiche. "We stay, bait. You go"

"Wardes! We have left Cog behind" Louise exclaimed, a little bit worried "He's going to be fine, I'm sure he'll reach us" "it's not him I worry about! It's the harbor! You haven't seen him fight! If he gets angry and I am not there, it could turn into a slaughter" Saito kind of wondered why Louise had had that sort of idea. Cog however appeared out of thin air again, next to the group. "When we're out of danger I'm giving you a piece of my mind Cog" Louise muttered to him. "Oh please, do. I'm sure it's going to be another tedious dialogue of why you think your mother hates you." Saito could only suppress a grin as he finally actually knew that Cog, actually, had always spoken in reply to each comment and phrase ever made.

When they reached the harbor, a man with a black staff tried attacking them with air elements. "Watch kid, watch and learn" he heard in his head. Then, he simply stared, as did Wardes and Louise. The mistake the masked man did was to try and hit them all off with some sort of air magic. This, to the AI counted as an offensive act, which enabled Cog to use self-defense.

Cog sprinted, keeping however a lower speed, so as to be visible by Saito. Dashing forward, he quickly moved right and left, distracting the mage and dodging when needed. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was close enough to feint. Saito could see Cog make obvious movements to attack right, yet the black staff mage ended up wounded on the left side by a kick. What seemed like a knee in the stomach turned out to be a slash on the right side; Feinting, Dodging, Parrying, Absorbing hits and momentum were all shown using the guy as a test. Finally, with a simple and straight push forward, the guy was flung downwards, out of the harbor of flying ships, and down in the clouds.

"My dear Louise…are you sure he's not really a demon?" "He looks like one. Only that" Louise muttered. They boarded the merchant ship, carrying Sulfur. Cog disappeared again. This time however Saito could hear him mutter about how strange and stupid it was to have wind stones, in an unguarded place where the weakest of saboteur's could harm the entire ship in the blink of an eye. Especially a sulfur and gunpowder ship! He also muttered about a "Santa Maria" (Name given to the stash of gunpowder on military ships) and its sleeping guardian.

Cog lazily slept on the ship deck, or actually, it looked like it. "So, Saito, what happens when you see something big and menacing?" "You run?" Saito was sitting his back against the wall, eyes closed, and was muttering, instead of speaking normally. "No, you dodge and bring him somewhere small and fun." "Small and fun?" "Yes. Fear is a normal feeling; understand fear and how you can defeat it. Like a joke, remember a nice joke while facing the depth of hell." "You enter the battle thinking about jokes?" "I actually enter it with music in my ears. Not that you can hear it" "Don't you need ears to like, discern ambushes?" "Ambushes and fighting on a battlefield are different things. Nothing is always good for everything: adapt and strike" "Easy to say" "Yes. Easy to say, easy yet to practice, hard to realize it's easy to practice." Cog replied shrugging in midair. "There will be time for that. You must however face the harsh facts"

"Which are?" "None and everyone; face harsh facts. Face death and life, sadness, despair, anger, rage, frenzy, see the bowels of gluttony and the damage the sins bring, see how piety is trampled and darkness rises. When you are done with that, finally realize the final and simple truth: there has never been light, only darkness, and various degrees maybe of darkness, but always, and only, darkness."

"It's kind of final apocalyptic way of thinking, you know, Cog?" "I know. What's important is not the message it says, but the feeling it gives. What are you feeling now, Saito?" "Doubt and…thinking you're crazy?" "Good. I thought so too. One day, you'll see what I actually meant. By the way, pirates incoming."

As Cog said, pirates actually menaced to sink their ships had they not surrendered. The surrender brought them from the worst possible situation, to actually the best one, as the pirate's captain turned out to be none other than Prince Wales himself, albeit hidden. The feast that night was like the last supper; three hundred against more than fifty thousand, it reminded Cog of the battle of Alsamon, a civilian world who ended up infected with Nerghulian's spores. Only a small group of police forces had managed to defend the tourist world, which had counted billions of population in tourists and civilians, then infected; He had been asked to give the final order to remove the atmosphere by one of the remaining police chief's. He had obeyed from orbit.

"I never know what you're thinking" Louise said, hastily bringing Cog back from the world of day dreaming, since he was floating in midair. Cog looked at her puzzled. "You appear and disappear like you don't even care. Yet you defended me on the harbor"-Actually, it was self-defense- "You protect Saito too; you're like the voice of reason of the two" Cog, still floating assumed a cross legged position. "You know, sometime, I have the feeling you don't respect me enough. Is it because I am not strong enough?" Louise whispered those words carefully "because I am the zero? Are you actually the one with pride, being a strong familiar?" Cog shrugged. "That again, shrugging is bad manners." Cog obviously shrugged again. "Are you doing this on purpose?" Cog nodded. "You know i…" Louise acted fidgety, a thing which made Cog raise a puzzled eyebrow.

A small book was delivered to his hands, it looked like a dairy, and it also came with a black piece of coal. "Here. This is for you. So you...can write. You know how to write right?" Cog looked at her perplexed. "If you don't I can teach you, you know" Cog shook his head, then scribbled in her language a quick note. _Thank you. _

"Oh! Nice! So now we can talk! So…" she was even more fidgety, probably scared to ask too. Cog sighed waiting to hear what it was all about. "What does Saito say about me? I'm sure you two talk a lot. I mean, you're both my familiars, you surely listen, so, what does he say?"

_Ask him yourself._

"But I can't! I mean, he wouldn't be sincere"

_So I should be a spy?_

"Well, no, but something at least!"

_Why care? You have Wardes, right?_

"Listen here! It's an engagement done by our families, and Saito is my familiar! We are considered one!" Louise bit her lip cringing silently.

_You are having doubts. _

"No! I mean, it's always been my dream to…" Cog scribbled rapidly.

_Kid, listen up: I don't care. Dreams are dreams. What you do defines what you are._

"You're calling me a Kid? Me? I'm a noble!"

_And I'm a fairy. Act like a noble to be a noble._

Cog laughed bitterly, shaking his head, and then he left Louise there, waving a goodbye with his clawed hand.

The next morning, Cog woke up hearing a voice speaking to him. "Cog, listen" it was Saito, with a serious look on his face. "I'm leaving. I can't protect Louise, and Wardes will certainly do a better job than me" "I wouldn't count on that" Cog replied half asleep. "Why wouldn't he? He's a strong mage and loves Louise" "Then do me a favor; stick around with me for a while" Cog stood up, and silently made its way towards the chapel, Saito could see the people in line to climb the refugee ship, but followed Cog till the back of the church.

"Up we go" holding Saito by his waist, Cog started climbing the church's wall. "What are we doing?" "I', stretching a bit the rules" "You can do that?" "I was told to have fun". Cog brought Saito all the way up to the roof, where he pointed at a small hole in the roof, due probably to the Reconquista's army cannon's.

Inside, Saito could see just enough to recognize a marriage undergoing. There was Louise, dressed in a white robe, who looked so pretty, like a doll, and Wardes, on the other side. Yet he also saw something strange, Louise shaking her head, refusing; Wardes yelling something and prince Wales intervening, and finally Wardes sticking his wand through Wales's stomach and piercing him from the side with magic.

Saito was in shock, especially as Wardes flung Louise against a wall. "Now grab your weapon, go and kill that man. If you don't, he'll kill the girl. Not that I care about it, but hey, it's your call. You want to become someone respected by others? You must dirty your hands with the blood of your enemies." "I'm not a murderer!" Saito murmured shaking his head, although rage was starting to fill his mind "You were brought here to become one though, what are you going to do about it? The girl will probably be killed. Pity since she seemed to care about you. Well, if you won't help her, then you can just say so. You'll stay weak. How can you grow strong if you can't kill? Weeping is a reason of strength in your world?" each of Cog's words hurt Saito like needles. "No, no. I can't, I don't want to" "Then let her die. A problem less isn't it?" Wardes lifted his wand, chanting a spell. "Can't you save her?" "Too easy to ask others; you want to become a man, then act like one! You think everything comes easy? Jump now sword in hand or you'll be too late!"

Saito gritted his teethes, and jumped, falling down right behind Wardes, who feeling the air movement turned around, launching the spell at Saito. "Partner! I REMEMBER NOW" Derflinger yelled, as the magic got sucked in. "I can absorb magic!" "Why not tell me this sooner?" Saito gnarled, charging straight on.

He then ducked to the right, but a shot of air magic got him straight in the face, sending him against the benches. "That petty trick won't work twice on me boy!" Wardes sneered, as his sword and wand made a deadly duo. Cog was silent. "What do I do?" Saito murmured. "What do I do!" No reply. He charged forward, again. He held his ground as the magic air hammer tried to push him backwards, his sword absorbing much of the impact. What did Cog do? He held Derflinger tighter, as he made his way to slash Wardes from the side. Wardes blocked the sword, but didn't see the left hand of Saito aiming…at his balls.

Wardes jumped backwards "Petty trick! Horrible and petty trick!" he sneered, but Saito didn't care and pressed forward again, in midair, Wardes could maneuver thanks to wind magic, but still it had slower movements than on land. Saito aimed for his lower legs, while jumping, but he missed, falling back down rage filling his mind. "Doing good boy. Jump on the bench next to you and run upwards it" he finally had a command, a strange one, but Saito obeyed. Jumping on only one side of the wooden bench made the bench spring up, light and strong thanks to the magic, he actually managed to run its way up it, and then jump to the side, slashing Wardes, who couldn't believe such a feat possible by a mere commoner, wide in the chest.

Wardes fell down with a thud on the ground, just as Louise regained consciousness. Saito was there, his sword was trickling blood. She could see Wardes wounded panting hard. "No chatter. Kill him fast!" Saito sprung forward, sword in hand, and Louise could only watch in astonishment as Saito, the nice and gentle Saito, pierced Wardes heart with his sword. "Look at his face boy! Stare at his eyes! This is what death is. See the life abandon his body. See the death, realize what it is." Cog appeared then, silently, next to Saito, Louise had thought they had both abandoned her, and instead there they were, albeit only Saito had seemed to have done anything. "Welcome to death, boy. Welcome to my world" Cog said in his ears, patting his shoulder gently. His voice wasn't ironic, or happy, it was sadder actually.

"You…you killed him" Louise muttered after a while. Saito was covered in blood, which had sprayed over him during the fight with Wardes. He looked miserable, also. "What have I done?" he mumbled, staring at the body. _You killed him. That's all. _Cog scribbled on the white page. _We should leave. _He added then. Looking around for an exit of sorts.

That's when a big mole came through a hole in the ground. "Verdanti? Isn't that Guiche's mole?" Louise said with surprise, soon after, Guiche and Kirche followed through the hole in the ground.

"What happened here? What…that's Wardes! What happened here Louise?" Kirche said, stupefied. "Wardes was a traitor. He killed Wales and then tried to kill me. Saito defended me and killed him" "You managed to kill Wardes? The captain of the griffin guard?" Guiche was surprised.

"I'm not proud of it" Saito murmured back, looking down on the floor.

_Let's leave now please! _Cog wrote faster on the white page. "Oh yes, this holes goes down to where Tabitha and Sylphid are" Cog quite actually threw the rest of them down, swiftly.

"HEY what manners!" as last, he actually managed just a brief second before the doors were opened by an explosion by the sieging guys.

Nobody was left there.

As they flew back Louise was held tightly by Saito, who looked shocked for the most part. Staring silently at the horizon. Cog was flying next to Sylphid with ease, like it didn't even cost him fatigue. "You saved me Saito" Louise muttered after a moment. "Why are you sad?" she added. "I killed a man" he replied. "He was a murderer who killed prince Wales!" "So what? I killed him; I became a murderer like him" "You were protecting me! I am equally responsible" "no you aren't. I am." "No, I am". "Both of you stop it." Kirche pouted. "Death happens, especially on a risky mission like this" Guiche stated "A pity I wasn't there to prove my worth! Maybe I could have saved prince Wales' life!" "Silence" Tabitha stated, and the rest of the voyage went by in silence.


	6. Chapter 6: The slaughter of Tarbes

Chapter Six

The dragon landed inside the royal palace, just to find Cog waving at him and faking a yawn. The rest of the group, Tabitha, Kirche, Guiche, Louise and Saito descended from it with ease, though they were soon interrupted by the Manticore guards. "DROP YOUR WANDS!" yelled the voice from a guard, who acted tough. He was actually thinking about how the wide grin of the demon-like creature wasn't a sign of friendship, the girl presented herself as Louise Vallière de la Françoise, "What brings you all here? Flying over the castle is prohibited! Especially with a demon!" the commander snapped.

"We request an audience with the queen, it's a secret matter" Louise replied, Cog wondered if this would actually work on anyone; yes, this looks like a antimatter bomb, but never the less I'd like a meeting with your ruler to speak about secret stuff. It never worked in the history of the universe. True to the thought, the captain of the guard refused. Saito was about to put hand to the sword when Cog's voice echoed in his ears "Calm down kid. Just because you killed someone doesn't mean you can go bloody murdering everyone, ahoy!" in a pirate way of speak.

-What was that? - "nothing." The Ai replied to him. She had changed his voice to a more pirate one and even added words to it. Nothing good, nothing good at all would come out of this. Saito however removed his hand from the sword's handle. Cog pointed behind the captain of the guard, and following his finger, Saito saw a violet haired girl running towards them, it was the princess actually.

"Louise! My dear Louise!" the princess exclaimed as she hugged Louise, "Princess!" replied the pink haired girl "What a touching scene, anyone has popcorn?" Cog muttered in his helmet.

They were moved to a private room, while Tabitha, Kirche and Guiche where moved to another room to rest, there Louise explained everything, from when they had departed. "Boring" muttered Cog, but Saito kept silent all the way, gritting his teethes when Louise spoke of how he had killed Wardes in self-defense. Henrietta's face grew sad, "So he didn't love me; He chose to stay and die." She muttered, sadly. "He chose to avoid giving the Reconquista a chance to invade" Saito replied, "In any case; I must thank you, Louise, for completing this mission. With the letter safe, Tristain may enter the political marriage with Germania" Cog coughed a bit, producing from his hand a ring. It was like the one on Wales' finger. "This is the wind ring; how did you get it?" Henrietta asked perplexed as she was given it into her palm.

Cog took out the notebook and wrote on it, swiftly: _He gave it to me; said something about to fight with bravery, to die with courage._ "I see. Thank you" she whispered as she took the ring, a gentle smile on her face. "I must reward you, Louise; you may keep the Water ring" "It is an honor princess" As they turned to leave, Cog disappeared again. Louise muttered something about that damn familiar going around as he pleased, but was actually more worried about Saito's face. It looked so dark.

After they had left, Henrietta had turned to the window frame. "What should I do Wales?" "Except telling me who this guy is?" the voice which came as a reply shook her, and she turned to see the demon, Cog, pointing at a picture on her bed desk. His eyes were fixed on her. "How rude to act like this; you have no right to ask me something after your words!" she was furious, probably he could have saved Wales had he wanted to, but he had instead watched. She was doing her best to hold her emotions from swelling up and bursting out "Answer my question, girl." He replied, menacingly. "I can have it one way or the other" "Don't think you're going to go unpunished! He's my father, the late king." "Can I meet him?" "He's dead" "when did he die?" Henrietta was bluntly angry, why was he keeping pestering her with such questions? He had intruded on her privacy, trampled her feelings, and was on the verge of making her take out her wand. "Why should I keep answering you?" "Because of this" Cog replied, as he removed his helmet for the first time…

Cog was there, at the magic academy, by the time Louise and Saito arrived back on Sylphid. Saito had kept been silent all the way, and Louise was very much worried about it. "Puppy eye, come with me" buzzed in his ear Cogs voice, and when Louise saw Saito moving towards Cog, she lurched forward first, standing right in front of Cog. "Now you listen here!" she pouted, shaking her wand "I already told you twice! Yet you keep disappearing and not telling me where you're going! I WANT TO KNOW RIGHT NOW: where have you been? What have you been doing and why are you doing this?" _This is none of your business, girl. _"You are my familiar! A familiar and its mage are one! What you do IS my business!" _Then renounce me. _"No! It's not possible!" _A one sided decision will never make two heads both happy. _"What are you saying?" _You chose to believe everything will go as you say. However I refuse. What can you do to convince me? What is your power? You think you can _Louise grabbed the notebook from Cog with fury, throwing it on the ground. "Here! Now you can't speak" Cog laughed, and then shook his head and finally, after shrugging his shoulders, he left for the Vestri court, waving at Saito to follow him.

"Don't you dare go!" Louise was clenching her fists angrily, yelling at Saito. The boy, however moved to follow Cog. "Why are you going? Aren't you my familiar too?" "Yes, but Cog's right. Everyone is entitled its privacy and its rights. Act like a noble if you want to be treated like one" the words hurt. Especially because they came from Saito, who, showing her his back, kept on moving, following Cog. "Oh my" Kirche commented, for the first time since they had descended from Sylphid. "Seems like Louise can't keep her familiars in check" "Tough" Tabitha single word commented. Louise then screamed: "FINE THEN! You're both fired! I can do well without familiars!" then she silently walked back towards her room, she had to keep the tears from coming out. She was a noble right? A noble shouldn't cry.

In the Vestri court, Cog sat down, back against the closest wall. "Sit down boy. Its counsel time" "I'm fine" Saito replied, "No you aren't, or you'd look at me and not at your shoes" Cog tapped lightly on the grass next to him "Sit down and speak your mind" "What is there to say? I killed a man" "So?" "It's wrong" "Who says so?" "Well, laws to say one" "Are we in your country?" "No. That doesn't make murder right though!" "You are not in your country however. You are not even in your planet. How can you decide what is right and what is wrong? The princess Henrietta herself didn't arrest you, didn't she? Therefore you're innocent. Clean, no problem with the law" "Killing is evil" "Says who? Don't soldiers kill to defend their homelands? Killing without reason is evil for whom actually? You see" Cog muttered, "First you justify killing for self-defense, then killing to protect your loved ones, then to protect innocents, then to help people, then to have an easier time, and then, finally, you come to the realization that killing is neither good or bad. It's killing. You can do it, everyone can do it. You can suffer it or you can give it. In any case it doesn't make your soul rot inside out or not. It doesn't change your body. It doesn't make you actually any different than before." "I…how many have you killed?"

Cog sighed, "I am a commander of Genocide, Elite Class. Class determines the overall rank of the military specialization. A Soldier, Thirteenth class is the lowest, a Supreme Commander, Elite Class, is the highest." He said. "You aren't answering" "Rank is given through skill and merit. Skill and merit is obtained by doing what your specialization is. A soldier has to obey orders, a Paladin has to defend people, and a Guardian has to reinforce structures" "So a commander of genocide has to kill?" "Yes. We are those tasked with the gruesome jobs. We have no excuses, no moral defenses; we kill because we are ordered to." "Nobody ever tried changing that?" "We see reason in our actions: we do not fear the dead. The dead do not rise to strike our weak. In death there is peace, albeit a sad and lonely one."

"How many did you kill to get your rank?" Saito asked uneasy. "Too many to count, too many to remember" Cog replied looking at his claw. "The first one, however, I'll always remember him. He was a friend; couldn't get to the masks in time to avoid the spores, I had to shoot him in the head before he compromised the rest of the squad. I didn't even flinch." "You have no emotions?" "You need no emotions in battles. Be emotional, happy, sad, angry how much as you want in peace, but never bring it to the battlefield. Battles are about surviving, the rest is unneeded"

"That wasn't a battlefield however, I was fighting Wardes, I was angry, you convinced me to attack him and kill him" "So what? He would have killed Louise, wouldn't he? Justify it. For the moment you still need justification, soon, it won't be necessary." "Why are you so convinced?" "Because I know how life works, trust me Hiraga Saito: nobody stays the same" then Cog stood up again "Now I think you're in need of some training, we even got freed from that girl"

Treasure hunting and beast killing was the training Cog had thought about: he grabbed Saito one day and disappeared with him. Orcs weren't humans, so they were easier for Saito to get used to killing. He had actually scouted the best places earlier, and had then carefully placed the most dangerous ones before others, even adding more trouble than good. The last one was the Dragon Raiment's, he had a hunch Saito would like that as the last one. Saito on the other hand was become broody and depressed. Cog had been giving him out counsel on what to do with Louise for most of the part, when he wasn't explaining to him battles of his past.

Saito actually listened to them with interest: foreign worlds where billions crashed against each other to conquer *rocks and more rocks* as Cog had said, to survive despite grievous wounds and ambushes, in Saito's eyes, Cog was like a war hero blessed with an unquantifiable level of luck. When they reached Tarbes, Saito was pretty much sure that, had Cog wanted to, he could have easily saved Wales, the world, and maybe even the galaxy. They arrived near a temple, which was said to have the dragon's raiment. Saito had Derflinger on his back, slightly tilted to the right, so as to be able to extract it with more ease. He was no longer wearing his old clothes, which had been swapped with more ample and easy to use ones, topped with a light banded mail armor, he kind of had the mercenary look.

"The scar itches" he muttered, concerning the fresh one on the right cheek, the product of an arrow half dodged. It had grazed him just slightly, but it had a nasty sting to it. "Let it be and it'll go away: go and knock at the door, tell the guy we want to see the dragon's raiment, we'll leave him all the trash in copper and brass we found around" Cog replied. Saito moved through the orchards reaching for the wooden house which had lights through the windows, a sign that somebody was definitely in there. He knocked thrice, with strong knocks, and then waited.

"Who's there?" "Orc slayers: we wanted to see the dragon's raiment" "just a minute" the voice was of a young girl, clearly. Opening, a small gasp followed swiftly, as the farmer girl opening the door was Siesta. "Saito!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly before recomposing herself and letting him go. "Oh. Is this your village?" that sounded like a stupid question to ask, it should have been obvious, yet it was the best Saito could think of at the present. "Yes! Tarbes is my village. What are you doing here? Why did you say that you are an orc slayer?" then she saw Cog coming up along the orchard towards them "You're both together? Did you start Orc slaying?" she was in awe, actually. Cog laughed slightly. "As training; it does bring some money however. It's a risky job" Saito muttered touching his scar on his right cheek "but it doesn't matter: can we see the dragon's raiment?"

"Yes, just let me get the key from my father" Siesta came back after a while, and started speaking about how the dragon's raiment wasn't working or something. Saito was wordless when he realized what the dragon's raiment actually was. That moment, however, was actually pretty brief; soon afterwards screams were heard all around them. "You should look at this: An invasion fleet, with an Albion flag, at least, as far as I recall it's the Albion flag." Cog commented in his ears. Siesta's father, or what looked like Siesta's father, came running by with kids, probably her brothers and sisters "Siesta! We have to run for the forest" "Saito?" Siesta asked scared to the boy, who instead, was touching the plane, his left hand glowing slowly. "You all go. I'll use this to hold them at bay" Saito murmured. Then he started climbing the cockpit.

"It needs fuel" Cog buzzed in his ears. "Can't you help?" "I can't: that would clearly be helping one side or the other in a conflict." Just then, a cannon ball flung itself over the hangar, like it was aiming at Cog, when the dust removed itself, Cog was still there, nanites having shielded him from damage. "Now I can help" he said, matter of fact, he climbed on the cockpit too, removing the old big radio behind them with a strong pull. "I'll use my nanites to simulate the engine's movement. I must ask you however: Are you ready to kill?" Saito gripped the clutch of the Zero fighter. "Yes" he muttered, like it was a death sentence hanging on him.

The Albion's dragoon didn't realize what actually hit them until it was too late. Holes were carved into the dragons bodies, into the rider's bodies, into the flank of the smallest ships. The biggest one had carved on its side the Lexington. "That has to be the flagship" Cog commented. "It's big! How are we going to take that down!" Saito was barely managing to avoid blows from the cannons. "You go low. They do not have our mobility, and their cannons are fixed. They can't shoot vertically" Cog replied "I can't even get close" "Then you are not trying hard enough: GO GROUND LEVEL" Saito gritted his teethes as he brought the clutch downwards, far from him. This made the plane descends acquire speed, as cannon balls flew around them, all seemed like under bullet time.

"Bring it back up on three, two…one…NOW!" as Cog finished counting Saito desperately brought the clutch back up, fighting the air resistance, the zero's flaps would have normally broken off, but nanites, millions of nanites, were reinforcing the steel frame at that moment, holding it closely together, as that happened, the plane got back to height and out of the Lexington's cannon area of attack. "Now how much do you trust this plane?" "Little!" Saito replied quickly to Cog's words. "Good, because we are crashing through the Lexington from down below, weaken it with everything you have!" "FOR DAMN FUC…"

Princess Henrietta had ridden to the battlefield on a unicorn. Her troops, entrenched in the port of La Rochelle, were holding their ground waiting while the mages prepared wind shields to deflect the grape shots fired by the Albion fleet's cannons. Cardinal Mazarin however had pointed something to Henrietta, flying and taking down Dragoons with ease. Wind magic helped also to see great distances, so Henrietta had no trouble seeing a small, metallic thing fly faster than any other dragoon, and then suddenly diving down, avoiding blows, before rising back up, straight under the flagship…"It's going to crash against it!" Henrietta gasped.

Seconds later, a strong explosion was heard beneath the Lexington, which shook before splitting in two. Out of the hole carved by gunshot, and Nanites' fire, came the Zero fighter. On board were a laughing Saito and a satisfied Cog. The first one was relieving the stress; the second one was satisfied in having taken part in an interesting battle. "We're going to be heroes Cog!" "You are, Saito, you are going to be a hero. If you manage to survive this" "Nothing can stop us Cog! Nothing!" "Calm down kid! Until the battle is over don't think it's going to be easy".

Cardinal Mazarin never saw before a beast such as that destroy a flagship and then, with strange white things, start shooting at the Albion's troops on land, it was a carnage. With no means to fight back, their dragoons destroyed and their fleet in disarray, the beast managed to kill plenty and route the rest.

Then it slowly descended to a halt near camp. Its head split open, and from there emerged two persons.

Henrietta was taken aback when she saw who the two persons were: Louise's familiars, however the girl was nowhere to be seen, could they have come alone?

The guards were suspicious of them, and made a wall between them and the princess. "Go and speak you mind kid. Make them scared" Cog told Saito through the nanites. So Saito, a smile on his lips did so. "Is this actually the way to treat someone who just won a battle for you?" murmur grew from the soldiers who were watching the scene, "No, it certainly is not" the princess herself said, "Lower your weapons, they are friends and our heroes" to that command, every other soldier lowered their weapons, and in a second, cheers began coming up from them all.

There were few prisoners to be made. Most gave up the will to fight after the carnage and their fleet's destruction. The few who still had it were stragglers, who ended up being killed on the field or hunted down. There were no nobles among the survivors strangely. "I had to make sure they couldn't counterattack with magic the Zero" Saito spoke simply. "Mages were the first to be gunned down".

The parade was done with Cog and Saito next to the queen, the Zero fighter standing on its own and being made to move without actually flying, until the very end by Saito himself, with the use of Gasoline Mr. Colbert had been asked to produce. At the end of the parade, they were both granted the title of chevalier. Saito because of his actions and heroisms, Cog for the same reason, but also not quite the same.

"The princess was looking at you strangely" Saito pointed out to him. "Might be Queen the term you're looking for boy. She's going to become one soon enough. How you're going to spend your money?" together with the title, the queen had actually given them money to spend. Cog had refused his, shaking his head vigorously. Saito didn't manage to. "I don't know. Maybe a house somewhere?" "Why bother? You wouldn't be using a house much for now have a stroll in the markets, find something you like and buy it. Rinse and repeat: it's the money you got by killing people, its blood money."

Saito was walking down the market stalls, Cog's words were still in his head. Blood money. This was his money, yet it was stained with blood. It all sounded so distant, so a dream, yet it was real, the mantle on his back was proof of his Chevalier title. It was also proof of his actions.

"HEY YOU!" he heard while walking down the streets. He stopped for a moment; the voice was coming from behind him. He turned quickly to receive a flurry of small hits on the chest. "YOU STUPID FAMILIAR! STUPID! STUPID! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME!" the pink haired girl was sobbing and crying wildly, attracting the attention of everyone else nearby. Saito sighed grabbing her hands. "Stop this charade, Louise" he muttered. Louise kept on sobbing, albeit at a lower voice. "You…you stupid familiar. You left me. You actually left me" "You know how you acted. You let us go both Cog and I. We went. What were you expecting? That we'd stay because of the graciousness you were providing us with? Insults and yelling don't make a nice reason." "I'm…I'm not wrong, you know" "yes you are. You'd better admit it, I am even willing to listen to you, and if you are willing to admit that you were wrong. On more than one occasion too".

Louise sobbed a bit more. She had spent weeks closed in her room at the academy, until the news of war, and then of having won the war, came by. Hearing who had helped and how, she had quickly travelled to Tristan's capital, and there had waited to get an audience with the queen. Instead she had gotten lucky while walking in the market to keep her mind off her sadness. Now her familiar was making her sound like the bad guy. He would never have her concede defeat. Yet she had felt so lonely. Never! But…

"I'm sorry, Saito." She muttered her eyes down.


	7. Chapter 7: A face revealed

Chapter Seven

Saito had walked with Louise towards an inn, hoping to find a couple of free seats so they could talk. Cog had casually suggested, hinting he was listening to the conversation through his nanites, about an inn along the main avenue. He wouldn't be there, since he said he would be busy compiling something with the help of someone. Louise followed Saito, sniffing slightly, she didn't even have a tissue, but when they stopped in front of the inn, Saito took one out of his pocket at his heart level. "Here: no need to have a runny nose when you can avoid it" he muttered, lending it to Louise.

Inside a man with a really strange dress came to meet them. A pair of black moustaches and a dancing attitude, it cheerfully brought the two to a table and left them there to talk while he went to address other patrons. "Why do you have that mantle?" Louise asked "It's not possible for you to have…" Saito raised a hand, signaling her to stop speaking. "I am a Chevalier entitled by her majesty, the queen. Going against the decision of the queen is treason." He replied sternly, but smiled soon after "That aside, what have you been doing till now? Everything is fine at the academy?" Louise was taken aback by Saito's sense of calmness and security. He wasn't going to go back with her to the academy, probably. This thought was making her wear a sad expression.

"I don't know. I didn't attend much till now: I was a bit sick" she said, averting Saito's gaze. "I see. That's not good at all" the chevalier replied nodding. "Well, seems like my contact is here" he muttered then, nodding to someone who had just entered the inn. It was Guiche. Red rose in his hand, he was accompanied by Montmorency. "Hiraga Saito! Hero of the battlefield and savior of Tristain! All you got was a Chevalier title, yet my friend you shine like a noble! I can actually imagine you flying right and left, hitting and shooting down enemies" Guiche produced himself in a flamboyant re-interpretation of how the battlefield went, while Saito meekly laughed it off…to avoid chopping his head off.

"Louise! Finally! It's been three weeks! You were always shut in your room sobbing and crying…" "I was not!" "Fine then, you were simply skipping" Montmorency sat down next to Guiche, who sat next to Saito to speak better with him. Wine was then brought by Skarron-san, at least, that was the name the inn keeper called himself...albeit with extremely different and vague adjectives. Nobody noticed that Montmorency, in the midst of things, placed something inside of the cups. "You're always talking about war!" Louise snapped angrily. She was meant to speak with Saito alone! Find a way to bring him back with her! Angrily, she grabbed the first drink available. The one intended for Guiche.

Later that night, Cog sighed. The scene he was looking at was the following: on one side, there was Saito, who was trying to move along the road back to where the Dragon's raiment was, on the other, there was Louise who was actually clinging to him, crying her heart out, wanting to stay with him because she loved him very so. "Cog, please, do something. She just lashed out one second, and the other she was forcibly trying to kiss me!" Saito exclaimed. "Why are you so against that? Isn't she cute by your standards?" "This and that are different! She's clearly out of her mind" "Fine" Cog muttered, appearing out of the shadows he was.

"Please I'll change. Marry me and I'll change, kiss me and I'll change. I love you. I love you" Louise kept on replying, tears on her eyes. "Her brainwaves are off the charts, I'd say she's gotten something to alter her mind all right. Love potions? She drank anything before going *all out*?" Cog was slightly amused. "There was wine on the table…I was talking with Guiche and Montmorency…" realization dawned on Saito's head. "I'm killing that blond, dumb, girl." "Calm down boy! Don't get too eager to kill someone" Cog replied.

Minutes later they were in front of the room that Montmorency had rented. "You want the honor?" Cog asked Saito, pointing at the door. "Yes, please" then he started knocking hard on the door. "Montmorency! It's me, Saito." When the door opened, after a minute, Montmorency saw Saito, holding a Louise who had been wrapped up with meters upon meters of rope. "This is your doing, isn't it?" he sneered, throwing the rope-Louise-worm on her bed. "I don't know what you're talking about" "I don't care: what I want is the antidote" "Well, I can prepare the potion, but it requires a really costly reagent that I don't have with me…" "Where is it?" "It's the tear of a water spirit" "Where is it?" "Ragdorian Lake! But the water spirit won't give it to you!" "Then I'll have to force him" with those last words, Saito left the room.

"You think you can manage this feat alone?" Cog queried Saito, a smile on his face. "I don't know: but I'm not going to keep that girl clinging to me forever. I' m sure she's going to at least thank me for not having abused of her situation" Saito replied as he walked towards the stables out of the city. "We have nothing to do at the present, right?" "Actually I can take care of that: asking around how people feel about the war is easy enough. I'll do it while you move towards the lake. Just be careful boy. Remember to ask for direction if you get lost!" Cog teased him while waving a goodbye at the city's gates "Didn't remember my mother had black claws" "Oh stop it you or I'll knit you a sweater. Get moving boy!"

Saito bought a horse with some of the money he had, and then began galloping towards the lake. At the first night of rest, someone reached him by horse: it was Guiche. "My friend! Let me come with you! I fear for my senses if Montmorency tries the love potion again!" "You know where Ragdorian Lake is?" "Yes!" "Welcome aboard".

The lake was beautiful, when they reached it days later. Light was refracted on its surface, glimmering and shining like a diamond. Yet it was also flooding the town and was already aiming at the mountain's eagle nests. "Is it meant to be like this?" Saito asked a farmer who shook his head "No sir. It's just happened. Two years ago." "You mean it has been two years since it started flooding? No one did anything?" "No sir, nobles are busier in court than here" "Don't worry…I'll take care of it, or my name isn't Hiraga Saito, Chevalier of her highness, the queen" "Thank you my lord! Thank you!" "And don't forget Guiche de Gramont! I'm helping him too!"

Near the lake's coast Guiche muttered something about "How the hell are we going to speak with a water spirit". "Guiche, try using a Valkyrie to enter the water" Saito proposed "On to it" with a flick of his wand a Valkyrie stood up, made two careful steps into the water, and was smashed down by the appearance of an enormous mass of water. "There he is." Saito commented simply, as Guiche instead began trembling. "Who are you?" the water spirit asked after a while, assuming semblance of a humanoid girly form. "We are here for a tear from you. Name a price, and we will pay it" the water spirit pondered on that for a minute "attackers come at night. Stop them and it will be yours"

The attackers actually did come, and when Saito moved to intercept them, he got met with a barrage of ice and fire magic. Derflinger absorbed the fire magic while Saito dodged the icicles, "GUICHE! NOW" he yelled, and Guiche's Valkyrie sprung up from behind the two, lances in hand. "Saito? Is that you?" a familiar voice called to him while he was charging. This was enough to make him stop actually, to realize who the owner of the voices where. Kirche and Tabitha explained their reasons, and Saito listened nodding. "This makes it easier then. I'll get the tear if you stop attacking, and then I'll ask what the problem is with the flood".

The water spirit spoke of the Ring of Andvari, of how it was stolen, of how it could bring the dead back albeit with a fake life and with no free will. Saito promised to look for it and in exchange, the water spirit began retracting itself. Leaving behind a tear for Saito to use. During the travelling back Kirche asked Saito "I like men who know how to make their own wealth, did I ever tell you that?" "Please, I have no interest in petty flirts" Saito replied coldly, and the rest of the trip was spent in an eerily silence. When they got back to the inn, Cog wasn't there, but chaos was erupting never the less.

A young man, dressed in leather armor, blackened by coal or maybe a dye of some sort, with black, short hair and a black mantle of sort, the Chevalier mantle, yet black, was standing there, looking with his dark brown eyes at the crying figure of a pink haired girl, who was crying her heart out with a mug of ale, the girl was flicking her wand to the right and to the left, clearly drunk. "Why did he leave me!" she was crying. Montmorency was in a corner, visibly shaken. "What is happening?" Saito got silently closer to her to ask "Louise, she convinced me to free her and when she realized she couldn't reach you, she started going mad and drinking" "Who's the man?" Saito asked her, but a familiar voice echoed in his ears through the nanites. "Make a guess" the fact that the man himself had said those same words, made Saito open his eyes in surprise. "Cog!"

It all had started the day after Saito had departed for the lake actually. Cog had simply been listening to petty talk, his Ai on the other hand had kept warning him about how this was not at all keeping neutrality, if he were to speak to the queen, and effectively helping her, he would have been charged with Treason by the intergalactic empire. "This is not normal" the Ai had pouted –I'm just having fun- "Treason isn't having fun. Its treason" –It's yet to be treason- "Sophism"

As he was there, when Louise barged out trying to escape and reach Saito, he found himself being flung over the side of the wall, the outer wall of the building next door, because Louise explosion actually tore down a hole. Hadn't it been for the nanites, he would have actually been gravely wounded. "What was that?" he muttered as he managed to get back on his feet, gasping. Louise was there, next to the hole, looking at him with anger "This is your entire fault! I KNOW IT!" readying herself for another wand. "Nanites malfunction, core nanites in preservation mode" "DAMN IT" Cog muttered jumping to the side, while the wall behind him exploded.

"Power nanites function decreased to twenty-five percent of functionality. Engage Hibernation mode" the Ai replied again. "Have fun he said!" Cog snarled as he turned a corner, his speed drastically dropping because the unnecessary nanites where becoming simply dead weight on him. "Merge function initiated" "Not now! OVERWRITE! I SAY OVERWRITE!" "Overwrite function ignored. Self-preservation mode engaged" Cog dashed into another nearby alley, as explosions roared behind him, it reminded him of his trench days, when artillery strikes made of overheated plasma were flying all around him. He managed to fling himself against a wooden door, and bash forcefully inside when the nanites began merging mode.

Merging mode was simple, the nanites would merge with the skin of its owner in order to not disperse once power would be cut off, they would also provide a basic protection, but at the same time would weigh the user, since they would no longer disperse the gravity pull on the ground, but on the individual's feet. Obviously normally it wouldn't hurt, but Cog's nanites had lost their anesthetics supply on Truan 8… So Cog managed to throw himself on the floor, behind a table, when a thousand and more needles pierced his entire body, entering his skin and arranging themselves. It hurt like hell. He gritted his teethes in wait, until it was finally over.

He emerged from there, his helmet, torn asunder by the first blast, maybe, was no longer working, removing it, he pressed a button on its side, and it folded down until it became a simple, black and round sphere. Pocketing it, he carefully walked out of the house he had barged in, to come face to face with Louise "You! Have you seen a demon?" "No, I haven't" he replied keeping his cool. "Good. Why are you dressed like that?" under the nanites suit the only thing Cog had was his military grade uniform. It was made of thin Kevlar threads, and knitted together at high pressures to ensure the best of safeties and movement.

"It's because I'm from another country" "Oh. Rub?" "Yes, Rub" he had no idea what or where Rub was, but without nanites, if that girl flicked her wand again he would turn to ashes, he didn't trust the Kevlar vest that much. "I know someone too who came from someplace else" she muttered "oh really? Want to talk about it?" "I don't know…I should be looking for the demon, he stole my Saito away" "Your Saito? How about we speak more about your Saito somewhere better than a dark alley?" "Nice idea! I like you! But I love Saito more, you know" "Yes, yes" sighing with relief, Cog brought her all the way back to the inn, the thought of speaking about Saito actually calmed that girl down so much that she paid the repairs without flinching.

The girl seemed able to speak about Saito for hours, and hours. Every time she finished saying something, she'd start again. Cog actually ordered alcoholics the first time in hope she'd at least drink herself to sleep. Instead, as a drunk, she started pouting and getting angry about things. Sleep powder soon followed, with the help of the blond girl named Montmorency, who even thanked the nice black haired guy who had managed to calm the girl down. Without his demonic resemblance however, he couldn't fully use his status of chevalier. So, late at night, he walked towards the royal palace. He no longer could use the nanites camouflaging ability, but he hadn't earned his title and his rank because he had been using top notch equipment. You had to earn it.

The guards heard a cry coming from the side of a building, one of them went to look, and the other, distracted while watching his colleague's back didn't hear the metal knuckle which impacted against the back of his head. Down he went like a potato bag. "Easy" Cog muttered, as he grabbed the guard's keys and armor, donning it as fast as he could before entering the palace, helm on his head he would be unrecognizable. Nobody stopped him while he walked the corridors; the trick to avoid military level inspections is to seem to be in a justified hurry. Carrying a blank, yet rolled up and closed, piece of paper in hand, he would seem no different from a messenger who had to deliver a message fast.

Henrietta heard knocks at the door late that night. "Who is it?" "Messenger with an urgent message for her majesty the Queen" she would never get used to the title, yet the voice sounded a bit familiar. Going to the door to open it, she actually gasped at the sight of her two bodyguards lying on the floor; "They're fine, a bit roughed, but fine never the less" the guard in front of her spoke removing his helm. This had nearly become a ritual.

Henrietta looked at the face, that face which had left her filled with doubts and more. That was the same face Philip the Great had, her late father, and King had. The day when he had first removed his helmet, and shown his true face, Henrietta had fainted, for a good quarter of hour. Afterwards, she had tried to pry any information from the men, but had not succeeded in the slightest. "What brings you here now? More question on the deceased?" she asked, bitterly. "Can I come in? We have to talk" "Will you answer some of my questions?" "A question for a favor. I have little favors to ask, so you'll get that many questions" "If I refuse a favor I get one less question, right? Fine then, come in and speak" she muttered, curiosity was stronger than precaution.

He entered her room, the new one was that of the late king, it was simple yet had something which immediately caught Cog's eyes. "What are your favors?" she asked him after closing the door behind her. "I need you to rewrite the Chevalier permit to myself. Your friend, Louise, blew off half a building, me included, and actually turned to dust the permit" "You mean, with another name? *Cog* isn't your name is it?" "Careful, is that the question you wish answered?" "No, fine. I'll leave the name blank, fill It with what you want" "Good, secondly, you should have a spare set of leather armor somewhere in your castle: I'll take that to avoid drawing suspicion" "Fine then. That makes two favors: Anything else?" "Can I smash this table?" Cog asked pointing at the favorite table of her father. "No. That was the favorite table of my father" "I think he held it dear for another reason. May I smash it? I'll let you see what's inside" Henrietta closed her fists strongly. Biting her lower lips, what was in there? Would it explain father's mysterious death? Or not? Would it just be Cog's madness? It still would count as one more favors…one more question.

"Fine" with those words Henrietta nodded and Cog smashed the table; as pieces of wood scattered everywhere something else rolled out of it, a small, black sphere, hidden within an empty frame of the wooden table. Cog delicately grabbed it and brought it towards Henrietta, who was puzzled. "This is a Chronos. It's the neurological concentrate of memories a member of the military of the Intergalactic Empire of the Dystopia always has on him. It registers everything that one of us sees or hears, and has a small battery that can last century without recharge." He commented. "So…it's father's diary?" "Yes, one question done. You still have two."

Cog had gone back to the inn, and had spent time speaking with various visitors and Louise, for the most part to avoid her from fighting someone or destroying something; when Saito strolled in, Louise was already half drunk and hadn't managed to see him. Montmorency brewed the potion, and then delivered it to Louise, saying it would make Saito fall in love with her. After drinking it, she suddenly stopped moving.

"I hope it's working" Cog commented as Saito got closer to him "Yes sir, we are so sorry for this inconvenience" Guiche said together with Montmorency, not realizing who he was, Saito on the other hand did, so he repressed a grin as he saw Louise blushing furiously, and then muttering, still half drunk "it. It wasn't me. I'm…sorry." "No harm done" Cog replied. "I am sure that after a good night of rest you'll find yourself in a better shape" If not with a horrible hangover.

Those words held true. As Cog represented himself to the others, Guiche erupted into a "I knew it!" all over, while Saito simply shook hands with Cog. "So, how is your part of the job going?" Saito asked him "Everything is going fine…I hope it keeps being like that" with those words hanging in the air, a guard entered the inn as fast as he could "WE ARE CARRYING AN INVESTIGATION! THE QUEEN HAS DISAPPEARED!". "Spoke too soon" Cog muttered.


	8. Chapter 8: Catching a queen and a shrew

Chapter eight

"The queen has disappeared?" Saito couldn't believe the words the guard had uttered. "Seems like it" Cog replied easily. Louise had already run for a horse. "What do we do?" Saito asked Cog, "I think you are mature enough to think for yourself: what do we do?" Cog replied. "We should find her. It's the right thing to do" "Ah, the right thing to do. What Chevalier like words. Let us go then, for the right thing!" As they mounted their own horses, Louise came back from the palace "The queen went towards Ragdorian Lake!" She yelled as she pressed forward. "Tell me again: this is the right thing right?" Cog had mounted a black horse. "Yes, can I ask you why everything you have is black?" "The color of the night and it's easier to hide in the shadows with dark colors"

The queen was intercepted after the one with him massacred a division of Griffon knights, she stood there, scepter in hand, and Louise had arrived there moments before, and was trying to convince the queen about something. Only when Saito dismounted together with Cog did they realize what was going on. "Your majesty please, you must think again! Wales is dead! This has to be an impostor!" "Stop it my dear friend, I am sorry, if you had ever loved someone as much as I did you would understand. Please let me go" Cog sighed at the sight. Certainly, the other seemed like Wales. "Saito, ambushers to the left and the right: I take my side, you grab yours" Cog muttered, he still had his senses and wits with him. Many of the dead griffon knights had various types of wounds in different directions.

The ambushers tried chanting spells, but Cog and Saito were both sturdier than they believed. Saito's sword, Derflinger, managed to absorb the magic of the attacks, while he himself cut them down swiftly "DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR BACK BOY! THEY ARE UNDEAD" Cog yelled as the first guy he had taken down, by clearly snapping his neck in two, still tried to attack him again. "Aim for the head!" –This reminds me of those b-rated zombie movies- Cog was unflinching, realizing the enemy true strength, he bashed forcefully his fist into the first of the mages, the impact fracturing much of the dead's mouth, and then he grabbed and removed the tongue. "One tongue down" swiftly moving his hand to attack from the side of his open palm, he actually managed to cut quite deeply into the second mage neck, before using his hand to forcefully remove the head with a loud CRACK.

Merging had its utility in the battlefield after all. Saito on the other hand caught up fast enough. Their heads removed, the bodies couldn't coordinate, and fell to the ground, lifeless. "Please, don't get closer!" Henrietta insisted. "Why am I watching this?" Cog muttered, scratching his head, as he grabbed a sword from one of the dead mages. "Chop the head and he'll die" he said to Saito "No! I won't allow you to touch him!" Henrietta screamed as it started raining. "Please your majesty! Stop this!" Louise screamed again, Cog signaled Saito who nodded, and then they both began circling to surround them. "I did not want this to happen, I'm sorry" with those words, Henrietta began chanting, soon followed by Wales, that's when Cog and Saito dashed in. The tornado which formed was made of water and air, water frozen and compacted into invisible blades, which could torn asunder anything on its path, even castle walls.

Yet it had to be directed. As the choice went, the one targeted was Louise; in the meantime she had begun casting a strange spell from a booklet. –Nice timing girl! Dodging it was too much?-Cog thought as the sword he had pierced through, straight at the center of Henrietta's wand. Saito on the other hand swung down his sword, shattering Wales' skull and then chopping his head off with a swift blow. The body fell to the ground, lifeless again. The wand of Henrietta pulsed, as the magic, no longer able to flow, dispersed, and the tornado stopped its course. Louise unfazed finished muttering her incantation, and then the headless bodies around them stopped moving, and fell down on the ground.

Henrietta began crying over the body of Wales. Saito looked at the scene in silence; Louise was tired from the chanting and couldn't muster any courage to speak. Cog on the other hand place a hand on Henrietta's shoulder, lifted her off the ground and threw her a slap right across her face. "I don't know what makes me angrier: an idiot crying over a fake, or the fact that the idiot is also my sister" he then pointed to her the bodies of the Griffon knights "You can still save some of them girl! Don't make me hit you again: move now!" the harsh words struck Henrietta as she could only back her tears up and move towards the wounded, doing her best to heal them up.

"Sister?" Saito muttered surprised "You said you were not from…" "I know what I said, and it holds true. It's my father we're talking about, the so called Philip the great. Seems he didn't actually die in a black hole the bastard! Ended up here, and became a king, that girl over there is a Half-breed. Her violet hair gives it off" "You're speaking about the king, Cog? Actually, are you speaking? The being mute was a farce…right?" Louise muttered, looking at both of them. "You knew it too Saito, didn't you?" she rhetorically asked. "You knew it, and yet you kept silent about it" "Well, he asked me not to speak about it" "So you kept secrets. Nice to know you two were so close buddies while I was being worried sick you might have ended up dead and starving somewhere" Louise was quite actually becoming emotionless.

"You did admit it was your fault to begin with" Saito replied "She actually admitted that?" Cog was a little bit surprised. Maybe there was hope for pride and idiocy. "Yes she did Cog; so I was thinking maybe we could, you know, bring her with us on missions?" "If the queen is fine with it; still we will have to see if she wakes up completely" "I'm…I'm fine." Henrietta muttered, after tending to the last of the wounded to the best she could. She was looking down on the ground, her hands fidgeting as she held the broken scepter. "I'm…I'm sorry. It's just, I…" Cog went closer to Henrietta a slightly sad look his face. "Can't expect thorns from a vase rose, can I?" he then slowly raised his hand again; the queen closed her eyes scared for another slap. Instead, he gently patted her head, twice. "We should catch up one day or the other, when judgment has passed and I can be more open about things." Henrietta nodded silently. She was remembering how her father did the same exact motions every time she was crying or being spoiled.

They got back to Tristania by horse; Louise rode with Saito, since the Queen needed a horse. Once they arrived the queen was taken by the Manticore groups, Cog warned them "Don't lose her again, or I'm going to take over your job" the captain of the group flinched a bad eye stare at him, but said nothing. The queen looked at Cog for a second, after a small smile on her lips, she left with her bodyguards.

"How about going to the theatre tomorrow?" Cog suggested "there's a new horrible play in action" he added then "Seems popular with young girls however" Saito was perplexed "This is your thought at nine in the morning? Not breakfast?" "This is your thought at nine in the morning? Having breakfast and not something else?" then they both began laughing, Louise felt, well, left behind. "Can I…can I come too?" she asked.

"Since you did ask, yes, you can come too Louise" She actually reddened a bit when Saito spoke gently to her. The theatre's play was indeed going to be horrible. The fact it would go on all week seemed more like a torture in time of wars then an actual tragedy. One guy caught Saito's interest however "How come that guy gets in without buying a ticket?" "Shhhh, it's the censor judge of the palace, Richmon" "gets in free it seems" "You still have money Saito?" Cog asked while in line "Yes, actually I should have my purse right here" as Saito went for his purse however, he couldn't find it. "It's…it's gone" Looking around frantically, he couldn't simply find it on the floor. "I'll pay for it" Louise muttered. "Really?" Saito asked perplexed "Yes. You'll have to return the favor however." "Cog?" "Why not? As long as it's a favor equal to having a theatre's ticket paid" "I'm a noble, obviously I wouldn't use it for petty things"

The play was indeed horrible, yet it served as a way to pass time, Cog silently disappeared half way to which Louise muttered "just where did that familiar go?" then bit her tongue, she shouldn't be speaking about familiars, it was enough to be able to start a conversation. She had to get them back with her, one way or the other. Showing off her generosity was bound to work; she hoped. "Cog does that. It's because explaining would be too much of a hassle" Saito murmured back to her. "For how much did you know he could speak?" "After the fight with Guiche, I reached him in the library, from there we went to the headmaster office, there he spoke directly with the headmaster. Trust me, you don't want to anger him" "What was that judgment thing he was talking with the queen?" "You heard? Well no point in hiding it now: in truth he is a really high ranked official from his world, and they have a mean of judging new worlds they come across to decide wherever or not they should share their knowledge with them." "I can't believe it." Louise muttered simply.

Cog on the other hand had moved a couple of seats further down and was marveled to see the queen herself, again after such a short amount of time. "Richmon, my disappearance yesterday proved true: you're a traitor" "You have no mean to ascertain that" "You were the only one who send a messenger towards a fake merchant, what have you become?" "The play is over then" with those words, the actors in stage actually showed their wands "Nobody moves or you'll get killed! We are not joking!" "It's a pity, however it is what has to be" soon, many of the female visitors started shooting on the fake actors on stage, filling them with bullets. –Wonderful- Cog was able to think.

"Tch. Nobody moves!" the guy, Richmon, said again as he grabbed Henrietta and held her hostage with a blade at her throat. As they started moving towards the front, Henrietta noticed the guy behind them, for a second, there was a glint of something behind her eyes. It was only a glint however, as Cog did not intervene, nor seemed to have any intention of moving in the slightest. Richmon managed to get to the stage, as Saito and Louise watched struck by surprise, and then disappear through it with a puff of smoke, like a stage mage, but without bringing Henrietta with him.

The queen looked back at her musketeers, and gave a look at where Cog was, just to see him still there, his face showed no sign of interest, none whatsoever. He actually left the theatre, Henrietta too didn't know what she was meant to say to him, so she said nothing, smiling timidly and nodding to her musketeer guards she was brought outside and into a carriage and from there back to the palace.

Agnes had just killed Richmon herself, her wounds, grave yet not fatal, had made her start crawling in the dark passage hole, towards the sewer system. She could hear the movements above, on the busy streets, but all was dark down there. Yet she couldn't die there, she still had a revenge to finish. Something came up next to her, silent and swift, she actually lifted her gun at it, but stopped when she saw a ghost; the ghost of Philip the great, she had never met him, but had seen his portrait in the queen's room. "You need a hand" he said. "If a ghost is telling me that, did I die?" she asked, but she did lower her gun, he didn't seem hostile at present "No, you're pretty much alive, come with me, I'll bring you out" he then forcefully held her arm across his back while carrying her.

"Is the queen still in low spirits?" he asked her, silently. "She was in shock, but she is strong, she will go through everything, even Richmons' betrayal" "small drops can crack a stone" "She is stronger than a stone" "I sure hope you're right." "Who are you?" "You haven't met me before? Oh no, you haven't" he asked her, then realized it was true and nodded to himself. "I'm someone." He then said "You have the Chevalier mantle" "Seems like it" "you don't have a wand" "seems like it too" "You must be one of the two familiars of de la Vallière" "I can drop you here, if you prefer." The man replied with a small look of distaste on his face. "I am Cog, familiar of no one" he added. "Cog is a strange name" "Agnes isn't?" "It's the name my mother gave to me, it's not strange at all! Cog is strange!" she replied bitterly. The man simply laughed it off, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter, there's the exit. You climb up first girl. Careful on the first steps, they're slippery" Agnes climbed the steps out of the sewer and into the port, and managed to faint just after a couple more steps.

"You know, I actually think Cog is doing this on purpose" Saito muttered as he and Louise were sitting on the fountains' side watching the people who had fretted near the theatre to see what was going on. "Do you think he hates me?" Louise asked Saito, looking down. "Probably hate is too strong a word. He's got his pride but he doesn't show it off" "What do you mean?" "I told you he was pretty high ranked in the military of his world. Probably he would be like a General of this one. Would you treat a general in the same way you're treating him now?" Louise thought about a famous general, like De Poitiers, and then muttered "but he can't use magic" "He's stronger than that. Magic is just a mean to do things easier, it's a weakness, not a strength; Cog told me that, and he's yet to be proven wrong" "Nobles are strong and they act to protect the weak!" Louise snapped in reply, "Some may believe that, but power can bring forth abuse. Cog said that too; he had enough power to destroy this world twice, as he said, from the very first day. Yet he did not. Do you know why he didn't?" "Because he was my familiar?" "No" Louise thought some more. "Because he didn't think about it?" "No" "then spit it out!" "Ask him yourself" Saito replied again a small grin on his face.

Louise growled, but said nothing. "So what is it? You two are left alone for a minute and you start lashing at each other's throats?" the voice behind them spoke, it was a familiar voice from a familiar person. Cog looked at them in disbelief before sighing slowly. "Really: let's just go." "Go where?" "I don't know; back to the academy maybe. I'd like to speak with Professor Colbert some more" Saito muttered "And where would you sleep?" Louise questioned "I slept on the ground that time of the Orc ambush near that run down pioneer village, you remember that Cog?" "Yes, you grunted for all the night" "It was hard to sleep there" "You fought orcs?" "Yes. One troll also." "Troll of the bridge: hand over the money! We: Get ready to die! He: I'm sorry let me go! He was a disgrace for a troll"

The small chatter about Saito's and Cog's adventures went on for a while until a loud yell was soon heard, directed towards the pink haired girl "LOUISE!" the yell came from a flustered, twenty five year old blond woman. "Older sister Eleonore! I can" but the sentence was cut off once the woman grabbed one of Louise's cheeks, yelling "You're coming home right now! What was it we heard that you're taking part in the war huh!" "Oh yes! That's what I forgot to mention: We're going to war!" cheerfully Cog said that, clapping his hands once to emphasize it. "You forgot about that?" Saito raised an eyebrow, how could someone forget about going to war? "Listen there, for me war is like eating, I do that daily" Cog replied shrugging. "You two chevaliers! Why where you harassing my younger sister huh? The La Vallière family is a proud and old noble house that…" "Miss, you're still unmarried, aren't you?"

Eleonore stopped speaking. Louise paled in terror. "Why are you saying that? Huh? Chevalier?" the words came out menacingly and cold. Cog smiled to her warmly, and then said, "Because it's a pity, since I have this parchment right here which entrusts me the task to ask the La Vallière family permission to employ their younger daughter, Louise Vallière de la Françoise in the battle to come, yet had I known I would have asked for you too: An untamed shrew is a terrible foe to fight" Louise fainted. Saito opened his eyes in shock. Eleonore couldn't actually realize what she was hearing. This Chevalier was worse than rude, he was mad! He had to be mad!

"You want a duel? Yet you don't even have a wand…" She uttered sharply. "I wonder how attacking an envoy from her highness the queen herself is going to be explained though…" Cog replied smiling warmly again. He was a devil. Saito had already decided never, ever, to cross his path. "You…" "I will be coming with you, and Chevalier Saito here will come too, to ensure that everything goes smoothly. The decision will remain with your parents. I'm sure however they will gladly bow and accept it for Noblesse oblige. Why wouldn't they? Treason surely shouldn't be expected by an old and noble house like the De Vallière"

Eleonore was defeated. Just like that, "Fine." "Saito, go get a carriage will you?" Cog said then to Saito, smiling, happier than before. Saito rushed off, one thought in mind: please, get back to being the silent clawed demon; you were less scary that way.

The carriage voyage was easy. The woman had only a handbag, Louise had nothing since she had fainted, and Saito too had little, Cog had everything on himself of essential, so not much baggage was assembled. Nobody spoke for a couple of hours, as silence grew thicker however, Saito couldn't hold on much longer "please, could someone tell me what's going on?" Cog looked at him dumbstruck "you still haven't realized it?" "No" he replied sincerely. Cog shook his head, and then muttered "The war is still going on. Sure we defeated the enemy at the La Rochelle with the use of the Zero Fighter and my nanites, yet no surrender treaty was signed, thus war is still going on. Now, since the Albion fleet isn't going to attack, and much of their men aren't able to fight since we killed them, guess where that leaves us?" "We ask for peace?" "Imbecile!" both Cog and Eleonore yelled at the same time. They looked at each other for a second, and then Cog went on "We invade. So troops, supplies, and the like are gathered and then sent to conquer the continent of Albion" "And we are being a part of it?" "The zero is needed, as is the little girl, per her highness orders" "Which is something mother and father will never accept" Eleonore replied, haughtily "Trust me: I can be persuasive" "You will never persuade our mother" "She's a soldier?" "She was one; she was the fiercest of them all" "Then she will be persuaded." "Hah" Eleonore laughed bitterly at that. Impossible.

They stopped, thrice, during the voyage. The first time was because of an owl which was sent for Cog, after a hastily scribbled reply, the owl flew back again. "Owls. Magical or not why trust beasts?" Cog sighed at that. The second time was because Louise had woken up and had tried to run out screaming, but had been quickly caught up again. The third time they stopped in a village for dinner, since they would be travelling all night long too. Having some time for them to speak, since Eleonore and Louise ate by another table, Saito asked Cog "I don't see you in your battle suit…did something happen? Is it hidden? Otherwise how come I can still speak to you through the nanites?" "Because Nanites are malleable. There are various types of nanites, some are mutable types, other are fixed type, and some have a sort of limited autonomy. So a battery nanite, a recharge nanite, a listener nanite and a speaker nanite put together make the communication device you are using without knowing." "I see…what happened to the Nano suit?" "Got in hibernation. Until it gets repaired completely it will be off. You have to thank that girl for it. That blast was done with murderous intent." "Really?" "Well, she was under a mind altering drug though"

"You two are most horrible persons!" Eleonore yelled at them from her table "Leaving a poor young lady like Louise alone for weeks! As men you should be ashamed!" "Hey! Somebody told me something interesting! About a recent engagement!" Cog replied. Eleonore turned red, then bit her lips and turned back to face Louise. "How do you do that?" Saito asked him "What?" "Know things like this! I didn't see you ask around." "Oh, it's because they're speaking about it in the inn's kitchen" "But it's like twenty meters away!" Saito exclaimed shocked "So what? I can hear even more if I concentrate" "Just…just what are you?" "I told you I was human" "I never heard of such humans" "Then I must either come from your past, your future, or be a parallel entity, or maybe I'm a being from a civilization who developed following similar paths of yours and thus came to name itself by the same name" "What?" "Good boy, stop asking me difficult questions: I can hear pretty well, that's all" Saito muttered a "Fine" as they began eating the stew.


	9. Chapter 9: Diplomacy is overrated

Chapter nine

The carriage stopped near the moat gate, and as Eleonore, Louise, Saito and Cog descended, a pink haired woman came forward with a gentle smile. Louise ran up to the woman, and embraced her tightly "Big sister Cattleya!" she exclaimed. "Oh my, Louise, you have grown!" Cattleya replied, hugging her sister back. "Remove your lewd face, please" Cog muttered "Lewd face? Sorry, it's just…" Saito replied embarrassed after a moment "Oh no, I understand. However look official please. Let me do the talking if you aren't up to it" "Maybe it's for the better" Saito replied.

Cog coughed to attract the attention of the pink haired woman, "my, we have guests, is one of this your sweetheart, Louise?" "No! They are…they are" my familiars, Cog was quite certain she was going to say that. Instead, as if fate had decided to prove him wrong, the girl said "Chevaliers sent by the queen" "oh my, then I'm sorry for having misunderstood" Cattleya replied making a low curtsy, "no need Miss, no need" Saito said dismissing the matter with his hand "It's lady boy, Lady." Cog replied. "Oh, it's the same" Cattleya said "No, if I don't teach him this now, he's going to keep making mistakes" Cog replied sternly, before saying "Is the duke de la Vallière home?" "No, father is away for business, but he will be back tomorrow; mother is waiting to have supper" "is mother angry?" Louise asked scared. "She's worried" "Louise! Let's not make our mother wait" Eleonore snapped.

As they made their way towards the dining room, Eleonore ordered to a maid "Add two more plates and speak with the cooks: we have two more guests at the table" as the maid scurried off, she turned around to face the two Chevaliers "We are not Germanians: as officials from the crown, you will be treated as such, albeit your rank is still low" "My, you have my thanks for that." Cog replied smiling, slightly bowing his head in Eleonore's direction. Like he had forgotten about the insults given before, or wasn't even caring about what the woman said. "I want your aplomb, Cog" Saito whispered to him "Shhhh. It comes with age boy"

At the table a stern looking woman was already sitting at one end. There were plates at her side, and, on the other end of the table, one plate was placed at the very end, and another to its side. "Mother…I can explain" "Silence Louise. Let the Chevalier speak." Louise's mother replied. She eyed the two. Saito looked like a normal boy, but the other one…he could feel it in the air. The other one was dangerous, or she was no longer Karin of the Heavy wind. "My pleasure to meet such a gracious lady: I am Chevalier Cog of her Highness guard, and this here is Chevalier Saito, of her Highness guard"

The Chevalier in question, Cog, then walked closer to Karin, and handed over a parchment, closed with the royal seal of Queen Henrietta. He smelled of blood and death, was what Karin's senses were saying as she opened the parchment. She read it thrice, to be sure, and then closed it. "My husband, the duke, will decide on the matter, you are our guests until a decision has been taken" "It will be an honor to have a kind lady such as yourself as a host" Cog replied, bowing; Saito did the same, and then they took their seats and ate in silence. Louise watched nervously from one side of the table to the other. No words were spoken for a while, until her mother spoke:

"I must ask what is the Queen thinking: how can she think our daughter would aid the war effort? She has always been an inept in magic" Louise felt a pang of pain in her heart, her mother's words were always this harsh whenever she was compared to her other sisters. Yet, why would the Queen Henrietta want her? She was useless. "What harsh words. Mothers should always value their children highly." Cog replied with a smile, Louise kind of felt thankful for those words, yet also scared for her mother's reply. "My way of teaching my children is not up for discussion. Why is Louise going to war?" Karin replied coldly. "She is needed. That much was clearly written" "Why is she needed then?" "Why is a gun needed? Why is a wand needed?" Cog replied "To kill better, to kill faster, to kill." "You think Louise is a weapon for war!" Eleonore snapped, hitting the table with her hands, "Sit back down, Eleonore" Karin told to her daughter, who, albeit having a distressed look on her face, obeyed.

"Why would I send Louise to war, now that I know you wish to use her for such acts?" Karin said looking at the men strangely. She had thought him a better diplomat. "I am a bad liar, Lady Karin; a really bad one. However I know that when I speak, I speak the truth: Your daughter is needed to kill better. That much is certain. She also has said potential. She destroyed half a city block, and I can guarantee the people of Tristania can be witnesses to her raw power." "What?" Karin was perplexed, and looked at Louise, who was looking at her lap in silence. "Louise Vallière de la Françoise" her mother started "I WAS UNDER A LOVE POTION SPELL! IT WASN'T ME! I…" she began crying and screaming. "Herself or not, that power was there. Probably fire magic, judging the destruction achieved." Cog continued, as Louise's cries turned to sobs after Cattleya, next to her, hugged her by the shoulders.

"My daughter is simply not ready for war, Chevalier Cog. She will be disciplined, if sending her to war was her majesty punishment, then please, let me deal with her personally" "No." Cog replied swiftly "Sending her to war is the opposite. It's a prize." "A prize, is it a prize killing people on a battlefield? You have seen battles; I can feel it, why do you still think that?" "Don't get me started. Discussions where two sides believe they are right have no exit towards an agreement." "Then I will rephrase the question, Chevalier: why was she given a prize for destroying a capital's block?" "Because I said so" the Chevalier replied with a smile, a simple smile, but to Karin, it looked the wickedest one ever. "We should speak more about the matter in private" Cog added then. "Some words can only be shared by those who have tasted blood and with a bottle of liquor in hand"

Karin tensed her hand a second, her eyes darted to her wand at her side, but she managed to keep her cool, for the moment. How could a mere chevalier convince the Queen? Was he actually far more dangerous than he seemed? "Fine then, we will speak in my study." Karin stood up, and then the dinner was over. Saito was brought to his room, while Cog followed in silence Karin.

"You're either incredibly stupid or incredibly smart" the duchess muttered as she saw the Chevalier drink through an entire bottle of Scotch. "Strong, but not enough" Cog replied, his face only slightly red. "So, let's cut the "my lady", or duchess stuff, call me Cog and let's get the words going: where did you serve?" he asked her, "I was known as Karin of the Heavy wind. I was the Manticore group's leader a long time ago." "Are you referring to those guys at the palace guarding the queen? They need to be retrained. I slipped through thrice without problems." "You…slipped through?" "Yes: before the title, I slipped through to directly speak with the queen of private matters. They didn't even stand a chance." Karin thought about how weak the Manticore could have become, or if, maybe, the chevalier was stronger. He certainly was rash and impudent.

"Yet you are fine speaking of these things with me? Who says I won't be using it against you?" "Because of Noblesse Oblige; you're one of the few who actually believe in it. That's why I went through the hassle of coming here. I could have simply grabbed the girl and brought her to the battlefield. My orders…" he got a bit sad at that "My orders are changing by the second. It's something strange, yet, I'm starting to like it: the silence." "The silence?" Karin asked perplexed. "Yes: I got ordered around pretty much my entire life, heck, even my marriage was done through orders." Cog's smile turned bitter, as he went on "However, chicks must leave the nest eventually. From a Father to a mother, I can actually understand that that moment is to be feared, but it must come." Karin looked at him with suspicion "You don't look that old" "You neither" Cog replied with a small burst of laughter. "However I am old. I know what pain it is losing a loved one; however, I also know that there is no way Tristain may survive this war unless it strikes."

"You sound certain of that: Albion wouldn't dare attack us again" "You know why, don't you? You feigned ignorance, but you know that boy and I are the sole reason the port of La Rochelle is still in Tristain's hands" "Yes, I know that: I'm asking you why should I believe we shouldn't just let the invasion force go without Louise" "You were a soldier. You know the reason; if you're testing me say so now. Even slightly tipsy I can still grab the meaning behind words." "Answer me then" Karin replied sipping her wine. "It's because they are on a damn flying rock which moves. They just need to shoot at the incoming ships, and everyone knows that landing parties always get the short end of the stick. So we need Louise with me and Saito on the Zero fighter" "The Zero fighter?" "The phoenix as Cardinal Mazarin called it." "I see, so you plan on sending my child, over enemy lines, behind them, and use her destructive power to open a breach?" "Precisely" Cog replied nodding. "That's risky" "She's with the best. We didn't earn our Chevalier title because we looked cute. We held back an invading army, and destroyed an entire fleet" "We could simply not invade" "Not possible, since reports are coming in of attacks on the outskirts of Tristain. If that flying rock gets into the right position, they could even raze Tristania to the ground!" Cog replied.

"I will speak with my husband tomorrow, and then we will see. I have to ask you: is your relationship with my daughter only one of casual encounter in the city?" "No. We met far before then. Still, it was different and holds no meaning." Cog cut the dialogue short, but then, as if an idea suddenly formed in his head, he smiled widely again "Though I do have some discussion to make about another daughter of yours"

The next morning, breakfast was held on the terrace, the Duke de la Vallière was present, and everyone was silently waiting to start breakfast. Everyone, except Saito who had to be excused because of stomach pains, horrible ones. "Louise, please tell me, is it true? Has your magic affinity for fire finally woken up? Your grandfather used to have it too." "Yes father, it seems like that" Louise meekly replied, looking at her food, still untouched "Half a city block of Tristania seems to confirm that, dear" the Duchess said "Half a city block?" the Duke raised an eyebrow, "is the reason two chevalier of the Queen are here? To tell me the judgment the queen has decided on Louise" "Yes dear: she will be sent to the frontline" The duke paralyzed himself for a second, and then regained his composure. "I see. I trust she will be treated well if I were to give my consent" "She will be treated as a soldier should" Cog replied sternly.

"She is a noble and not a petty one too, if she will be treated any lower than that there could be a problem with..." but the duke couldn't finish the sentence, because Cog snapped slightly, replying "She is a soldier until the war is over. These are her majesty orders. Do not insist, Duke de la Vallière, the fact you refused to send soldiers, and instead paid the war exoneration tax is reason for enough murmur. You have no room for negotiations. You have no room for anything but accepting outright or refusing outright. I hate petty words and petty people, duke: Yes or No?" "Yes." The duke replied bitterly "But you have made yourself a horrible enemy today, Chevalier" "Then be warned than none of my enemies are alive to this day" Cog replied "We move in half an hour, Louise. Get ready by then" he added before excusing himself from the table.

Breakfast resumed while Louise was sent to prepare, but a little before leaving the table, "What a horrible commoner! No matter what many may say, I won't recognize him as a noble!" Eleonore snapped. The Duchess smiled at her eldest daughter "You know Eleonore; a new fiancé has been decided for you. He brought forth many decisive arguments, and managed to win my trust" "Really Karin? I didn't know about it, but I trust you, so I'll give my consent. If somebody wants to marry Eleonore, be I damned if I don't applaud his courage" the duke said with a small laughter. "Dad! Who is it? An earl? A count?" "You all just saw him leave the table" the Duchess said with a wide grin.

As Louise climbed into the carriage, Saito drove away as fast as lightning "Can't you go a bit slower!" she yelled at him, but Cog, who was inside the carriage, replied "nope, or we are going to be killed" "Obviously after the words you said at breakfast, my father would kill you!" "Well, no, that was a ruse" "A ruse? A ruse for what?" "Well, I actually, spoke with your father when he came back. He gave in quite easily, once I mentioned you wouldn't actually see the frontline" "But you said" "I know what I said, but I had previously decided with your mother on that, so, in the end, your mother and I got into an agreement: you die she gets my head, you don't die everyone is happy, plus, to keep everything smooth, I actually helped your parents out" "How did you do that all in one night?" Saito yelled from the cab "Well, I can multitask! Anyway, we decided that if I were to become the official fiancé of your elder sister, she'd most probably tame her attitude, in hope of finding someone better than a Chevalier." "Wait, so you officially engaged my elder sister?" Louise's mouth was wide open, forming a perfect circle from the surprise. "Yes. In order however for your parents to cancel it whenever they wanted, the scene of this breakfast was done"

"You are a devil" Louise said after a while. "Yes he is! Don't get on his bad side!" Saito yelled from where he was, as the carriage kept on gaining speed "You are all exaggerating; I just did what had to be done" "You're a devil." Louise said again.

On the first week of Wynn's moon, near the end of the year, the ships were ready to sail for the Albion continent, being it the day it was closer to them. On the pier, before departure, stood Cardinal Mazarin, the Queen Henrietta, and one of the Chevalier that the Cardinal had seen for the first time since hearing about two commoners becoming Chevaliers. However he had never been ready to see the ghost of the previous kind, as he had gotten closer, the Cardinal had to control himself from kneeling down, but couldn't avoid muttering a "Your Highness…the King is alive." "No Cardinal, this is Cog, Chevalier of the Queen. I take it Louise and Saito are at the academy, ready to leave with the Zero fighter?" She asked, looking at the face which smiled back at her "Yes, they will dock on the flagship once on route" "Your Highness, the resemblance…you must have noticed…" Cardinal Mazarin was perplexed, a bastard child? The Queen Henrietta was fine with that? "It's different Cardinal, though were I to speak you'd probably faint, I did for a good hour actually" Henrietta said jokingly, "it was an hour and three quarters, plus another half an hour went by with you rambling curses" Cog pointed out "of which some, really, shouldn't be expected to be known by the flower of Tristain"

Henrietta slightly blushed, "Stop it." She said before returning serious "Do you think we can win, Cog?" "Well, I've seen worst odds." He replied shrugging "War is chaos, Henrietta, nothing can be fixed on a sheet of paper and hold true all the time. True art is knowing how to use everything to your advantage, no matter how tiny it is" "Those were the same words of his majesty" Cardinal Mazarin said, moved to tears, "I never thought I'd hear someone else say them except me" "Control yourself Cardinal, the fleet is about to leave, we will have their eyes on us in the next minutes" Henrietta said.

"Yes, your highness, I beg for your forgiveness." Cardinal Mazarin meekly replied "Now then, I'll be going on the Varsenda…" as he turned to leave, after a small head bow, he stopped, just to say the following words "I'll still bring her back alive, Henrietta. I owe you that much" before finally leaving. Henrietta looked at the floor of the tree pier, not knowing what else to say. Mazarin thought better than to ask. "Your Highness, the late king used to say a strange phrase, every time he was caught up in something serious." "What was it, Cardinal?" "Sin Nakkar Varsun Gherzunt" the cardinal said, trying to recall it at its best "What does it mean?" the Queen asked curious "I asked him, once, and he said: it means what one wants the most to hear, I never understood it's meaning, actually, but maybe he simply kept it a secret" "I will ask Cog when we will meet again then" "You sound certain he will return, your highness" "I am."

**Elsewhere in the universe**

"Traslator INBOUND!" yelled the radio communicator "Open the ball and start the dances!" replied another radio communicator, three hundred meters downwards. Long shimmering tubes of metal and glass, brightly shining around, housed millions of spheres each seemingly identical to the other. Green and red messages were displayed, video feeds, images, all were processed and sent through nanotubes towards the central processing core of the Net station orbiting around the Truan system.

The ball referred to was the landing pod, an enclosed sphere made of thick carbon plating and Kevlar rings. It opened and began swiftly rotating, aligning itself in the direction of the Traslation. It circled, and as energy was poured in a sort of net, composed of overly charged nanites began forming at the center of the sphere. In the blink of an eye, flashes of light soon followed the arrival of mass through the Traslator gate. It was a shuttle, a bit battered, and with the marking of Truan-8 written clearly on the side.

"Attention all personnel, please assemble the First defense force of Net station. I repeat, please assemble the First defense force of Net station. Uncalled personnel should remain at their desks." The metallic voice buzzed, and soon, fifteen soldiers, clad in Kevlar plated body armor, their face obscured by the dark helmets they wore, who could only show in the midst of all that black six red dots, three per side, started to move towards the shuttle. The control tower stopped the Traslator and the nanites, no longer overcharged, slowly went back to rest as the sphere closed itself, leaving the Shuttle in the darkness. Lights turned on, albeit unnecessary, since the helmets had their own lights and also night vision. If you can build it in, why not?

The first five soldiers moved in tight formation towards the shuttle doors, their assault guns in hand, protocol dictated nobody was to open the shuttle from the inside, unless five knocks were heard from the outside. The remaining ten soldiers took positions, eight standing on the front, guns pointed to get the back of their fellow soldiers, and the two behind them where watching their backs.

Slowly, one of the soldier extended its hand and knocked five time against the battered side of the shuttle. The door opened slightly, and then a voice muttered "I am Supreme commander 902034, twelve class." "We were waiting for the Genocide team. You result tasked with the protection of Truan 8 laboratories. You were supposed to be dead by now." "I can explain, really" the words came as the man crawled out, a tattered grey mantle on his back, a strangely fashionable sword with an elaborate hilt, behind him, four more stragglers moved to exit the shuttle.

"The Psychic enhancer has already been shuttle delivered before by Commander of Genocide, Elite class, 578639, he was not on board, a video feed instead was" the words were spoken slowly, the Supreme commander could feel something was off with this Soldier class, but couldn't get his hands on what it was. "The man you and your men left on Truan 8 to die accused you of high treason" the words came out with hate, and then a set of quick shots carved through the Supreme Commander's chest, and emerging from the other side dug deep into the shuttle's outer armor plating.

"You lot! Drop any weapon and surrender immediately! You are under arrest by order of the Supreme Commander, Elite class, 000001!" the four remaining men obeyed dropping their weapons and kneeling down, placing their hands behind their head. They were soon arrested, and brought away, and as the shuttle was cleared, the platoon of soldiers dispersed back into their own position. Except the one who had fired; the soldier moved back towards the guest lounge, where a woman, with long purple hair, and a camouflage colored Kevlar ring armor, stood in wait. She had a stern face, with a small cut under the left side of her chin, and looked at the soldier. "He was not on board. The supreme commander was shot, and his brain will be plunged into an interrogation unit, the remaining soldiers were taken prisoner" "I understand." The woman said, nodding. "You shouldn't worry, father has always been the type of guy to adapt to anything, he's strong" "That is what scares me: the bigger they are" "the harder they suffer when they fall" the soldier finished the woman's sentence, and with a military salute, went back to one of the Net station spheres, to process information.

"So that's the rock we conquer today" Cog said nodding to his own words, pointing at the map of the Albion continent "Please, not rock, it's a country!" the general De Poitiers said exasperated. "It's a rock, a floating rock. Let's get this over with" Marquis Handenburg said, "Yes, it should be for the best" chief of staff Wimpffen nodded too, "Fine then, we would like you to use the same explosion you did to raze a city block" "Frankly, you could have awoken less destructively elsewhere" Wimpffen commented "no matter, you will use the fast Phoenix" de Poitier went on "Zero fighter" Saito corrected him "Phoenix or Zero, whatever, and fly past their defenses, then you will vaporize them! Easy enough right?" Louise nodded "Yes! Yes I will do it!" "Good girl!"

"You can't do it, can you?" Cog asked Louise, seeing how she was fidgeting; she shook her head "No! I can do it! Her highness expects this much from me, everyone here; all 60000 thousands expect this much from me." "Wait, you're telling me she can't do it?" Saito asked "We don't have any bullets left on the Zero fighter! With your nanites off we used Professor Colbert gasoline, who thankfully managed the task" "As long as we have the speed, we have everything." Cog replied nodding "furthermore, we also have this" and an old book was thrown straight at Louise who grabbed it perplexed. Written on it were strange runes. "Explosion and Illusion. Two spells of the Void" he said. "Or should I say, two spell which base themselves on the atom. Two spells derived from ancient technology, which your world calls magic" Cog said with a wide grin "There is no magic: only advanced technology, which, in the hand of ignorant, becomes magic. Look at the zero fighter, called a magical phoenix. This magic of yours is not something real. It's science. Science which is unlocked only through determined genes, and patterns. That's why I managed to crack open some pages of the book." Louise looked at Cog dumbstruck "don't worry, keep thinking it's magic. Keep it simple. I'll take care of the heavy thoughts" he added then.


	10. Chapter 10:Take the city, hold the line

Chapter Ten

"So this is your plan?" Saito replied, as the Zero fighter's engine began powering up. "Yes, it's my plan" Cog replied from behind, Louise on his lap "What if it doesn't work?" the girl meekly asked, maybe the stress was finally starting to change her, or the fear of failure. "It will work. I spoke with De Poitiers, he seemed understanding." "I see" Louise bit her lips as she held her wand tightly. "Are you sure I'm the user of the legendary void?" She asked Cog "pretty sure. The runes on Saito's hand are those of Gandalfr, the void familiar" "Your hand too has…" but she stopped, as Cog's hand had no sign of the familiar runes inscribed. "No, it was a ruse. The nanites of my armor created a resemblance with Saito's runes. You actually never completed the contract with me, you just thought you had" Louise said nothing.

The Zero fighter lifted off, thanks to the help of some air mages, who flung it into the air, granting him enough horse power to lift off on a short ramp. "We are going to be brought to Dartanes with a small company of Dragoon knights" Saito commented "Good kids, I spoke with them last night" he added then. "You're a kid too, Saito" Cog replied "No. I'm a soldier." "In my eyes, you remain a civilian" "Soldier." "Civilian" "I can kill people, I am a soldier" Saito replied snapping with anger. Louise kept silent, albeit it wasn't directed at her, she felt the fault was hers too; Saito had killed Wales to save her. "Also a kid can grab a knife and slit it's mothers throat" Cog pointed out "The kid isn't a soldier, but a civilian. A soldier is something else than just a tool for slaughter." "Speaks the Commander of Genocide? The one tasked with exterminating life forms from planets?" "Yes. If I say this, then you should understand there's more to it"

The voyage kept being eerily silent for a while, until Louise broke the silence, "What are those?" she said, pointing out to a big cloud of points growing closer. "Can't see clearly: they look like dragons though" Saito replied, "Yes, those are dragon knights, if I can see well, it looks like it's an entire division" Cog muttered. "Fly low; let the escorts do their job" "They are going to be wiped out" "That depends on how good they are. We have an order, they have theirs. They will protect us or die trying; we will reach Dartanes, or die trying" Saito gritted his teethes "But!" "A soldier says no "but!" you want to be considered a soldier? Start obeying" Cog spoke softly, Louise could see that his face wasn't actually happy about saying those words, but kept silent. "I drank with them last night, spoke of dreams and glory, I don't even know their names" Saito murmured "Dreams are not made to become true, and glory obtained through blood is a stale thing" with those words from Cog, Saito lowered the clutch of the Zero, down towards the tree tops.

The zero gained enough acceleration to leave behind the escort and the attacking division. They were left alone, in silence except for the hum of the Zero's engine, "It's uncomfortable" muttered Louise, after moving for a while on Cog's lap. "You could move on Saito's lap, but he's busy with the clutch" Cog replied "No, this silence is. Let's speak about something, please." "Like what?" "Family, for example, if you actually end up marrying my older sister, that would make you related with me!" "Yes, so this would mean what?" "That you could start treating me nicer" Louise replied "Please. I am treating you nice enough" "No, you aren't! You consider me a weapon!" "You are a weapon" Cog replied simply, Louise shook her head "No! I am not a weapon, I am a person! You are not a familiar, but a person too!" she added with emphasis.

Cog tapped lightly on her head twice with his open palm "Good girl" Louise slightly blushed at those tender words, "What? Why are you…?" "You pass." He simply stated. "I have to at least bring you back alive to Henrietta, so don't worry, I'll keep you safe" "St-stop… it! Y-You are…" the pink haired girl stuttered, embarrassed on what to say. "Now pleasant talks seem to end now: I'm seeing the city on the horizon" Saito said then, interrupting. "Up we go then" Cog said, holding Louise by the waist and opening the cockpit screen. "Just chant the words! I'll keep an eye out"

As the massive illusion was cast, Louise crumbled back asleep in Cog's lap, but when the urgent report came in, General Hawkin gave order to move from Rosais and back to Dartanes, they couldn't let a city be captured that easily! Miles away, a report from a scout came in too, "General De Poitiers, the enemy is abandoning the defensive positions, and moving towards Dartanes" The general bit his knuckles "I can't believe he was right" he muttered then "FINE! ALL FLEET ADVANCE! DOUBLE TURNS!"

As they sat there, flying in circle around Dartanes, Saito broke the silence, "Professor Colbert gave me a letter to read. I never managed to, because I actually can't read. Would you mind?" he said as he slipped the letter on the back of the Zero to Cog who smiled "Thankfully I learned the language. You are going to learn it too eventually" "Read the letter please" Saito insisted, Cog shifted Louise on one of his legs, as she was sleeping she even looked cute, like a doll. "Hiraga Saito, Chevalier of the Queen. So young, and already faced with trials, please, listen to my words, I went through it. I fought, I committed crimes graver than anyone, but I hope you will not commit the same mistakes I did: do not get accustomed with death, with war, or something inside you will break, do not become like me, and don't think killing is a natural thing"

"It's too late for that" Saito murmured, "You crying boy?" Cog asked, hearing a small change in voice. "I just… don't know who I am now" he said "Am I still a Japanese student? Am I still normal? Do I want to return to my world? I had a dream, more like a nightmare; I couldn't even recall my mother's face. Is it normal? I killed people; with my hands and with the Zero. Am I a monster now? I don't feel guilty, I had to or I would be killed…I just…" Cog looked at the boy and sighed "You have a good heart. Really, you do. However you must understand my words: So what?" he stated, seriously, "I don't get it Cog! I don't get it!" Saito shook his head furiously holding the clutch of the plane hard "So what if you killed someone boy! So what if the earth has another body to hold! The flower will still bloom at spring, your mother will still be worried about you and the clouds will still linger forward! SO WHAT? Why do you care? Who gives a damn! Be sad you had to kill them, fine, it's fine, nobody is going to hate you for that, you'll be emotional, but it's fine, but don't let it get you. Everyone dies. More than that, Nobody and nothing cares" he replied, before adding again "The milky galaxy, the Andromeda, the Perseus, the Martifex system, billions of stars, even more infinite casual numbers of civilization composed of billions and more of people of different races, aspect and religion. You killed what? A thousand men fighting the Lexington? One with your sword? You think this stops the rest of the universe from going about its own damn business? You think somewhere; someone wakes up crying for Wardes death in the Andromeda galaxy? No: the answer is no." "Here someone could wake up crying though! What if he had family or friends or…" "So what? They'll cry, fine. They'll hate you, maybe. They'll try to kill you? Then kill them. Why do you think we Commander of Genocide are needed? There are no half-assed measures. You either never kill, and then you must be ready to be killed or you kill until nothing stands to oppose you, and even THIS can be interpreted in so many ways that even clash with each other, so what?"

"I just want…to go home and forget everything" Saito replied with a weak voice "That's the worst thing you can do, boy; the absolute worst. You must face it, face the facts, face the world, the universe, and yell at it if you want and realize that, no matter what, you did neither the right thing nor the wrong thing. You just did something. That's all there is. Morals are decided by the mass, and by the person. You decide who you want to try to kill and who not. You decide, thus you are your own judge, jury and executioner. You find yourself guilty? Then your punishment is what you decide. That is all however. Keep it inside of you because your crimes should never, ever, inflict harm on anyone else next to you." "What are you saying? Killing is a crime; by your words I should be punished." "For who, Hiraga Saito? When? Where? How? I killed more than you, exponentially more than you, and probably still will, yet, I am here. Talking with you, not because I'm a cold hearted bastard, but because it's useless to worry about it. I'll cry tonight, or tomorrow, or I'll drink till I'm dead or smoke till I'm suffocating, but no matter what, I am the one who decides my punishment, unless I get killed, that is."

Cog muttered then "It's difficult to speak with a wall, though I'll try until you get it: during one Elite class training, we were given permission to kill anything, and anyone in the surrounding area. Civilians, teachers, professors, drill sergeants, anyone. They could defend themselves obviously, but we would go unpunished for the toll of deaths. We were given shiny new weapons, and armors, and we were set free. Do you know how many people were killed that day, Saito?" "I don't know, why it should matter?" "Not one. Not a single one was killed that day. Do you know why? Of an entire class, none were killed? Because each of us knew it wasn't worth it. Sure, we could live on, but then what? Would someone be angry at us? What if we killed the headmaster's son? Or the infant daughter of our favorite teacher or of the guy dealing with the weaponry assigned during live fire tests? " He made a small pause. "It is not killing you must worry about, it is who you wish to become by killing" "So I should keep on killing?" "I did not say that. You want to stop? Stop. You are no soldier; nobody is going to ask you to kill again. However, know that eventually, you will kill again. You are a weapon, Saito, as I am. Weapons are used and are bloodied. No matter the face we may show our families, we are weapon."

"I don't want to be a weapon" "The moment you ended up here, in Tristain, the moment the Gandalfr runes were carved on your hand, you became a weapon; and now you can no longer go back. You tasted the power of the runes, didn't you? Excellent speed, agility, knowledge of all weapons, the fact you know how to land on the Varsenda right about now is sign of this" They had spoken so much that the Varsenda was actually in sight. "Gandalfr is a tool for destruction. That's all. You however are not Gandalfr. You are Hiraga Saito, the choice is always yours. Though, I suppose, you already know what you want" Cog said gravely, silencing himself for the moment, Saito remained silent for a while, too, before slowly murmuring "I want to go back home" "Then I will bring you back" "Thank you, Cog" "Don't thank me yet: I'll train your ass off until you actually have a chance to get back home" "I look forward to it" the tension broke off like that, and a small laughter soon followed. Louise kept her eyes closed tightly. She was really, really worried.

The old city of Saxe-Gotha was taken soon after the port of Rosais, from there; the capital city of Londinium wasn't that far. Saito was watching Louise sleeping in the bed of the inn they had rented, lost in his thoughts. "Hey partner" The talking sword spoke "What is it Derflinger?" "You should know this: your power is proportional to the emotions you prove, Gandalfr works with emotions" "So?" "Anger, hate, sadness are some of those, but also happiness, love, and more happy ones" "you remembered it now?" "Yes, because I feel it's going to be important pretty soon" "I see. Thank you then" "It's a pleasure partner" Saito looked at the sleeping face of the girl. He was in this mess, fighting in a war, killing in a war, because of her. Yet she managed to sleep peacefully while he couldn't. He was about to growl slightly, when a thought struck him, "Why should I care?" he muttered to himself. "Why should I care?" he repeated, like dumbstruck. It was that easy? Was it really that easy? "There is no reason to care. I did my job, he would have done his. There was no reason at all to care! It happened, it's what I decide to be, if sad, or happy, but then it doesn't change what I am…now I get it. Now I get it!" excited, Saito smiled, throwing himself on the free bed, and falling asleep, content, finally.

Cog looked at the letter he had just received from the owl. "This is a joke right?" he said, to the owl who obviously couldn't answer him. "She actually…oh never mind. Innkeeper! A quill and some ink! And something strong to drink too!" Cog yelled, the innkeeper looked familiar; however he shrugged at his thoughts, and after paying for the stuff, began writing. "Isn't that…" a female voice shook him from his writing, and lifting his head, he managed to catch a glimpse of the school maid from the Academy "What brings you here, Siesta?" it had been a long while since he had last seen the maid "I am here with my relatives, sir. Since the city was taken, my uncle opened this tent to sell wine to the soldiers" "Yes. I see. How are things in Tarbes?" "Everything is fine now! You and…Chevalier Saito stopped an entire army from advancing; this war is clearly going to be won" "While I appreciate enthusiasm, nothing is certain until it's finished, Cardinal Mazarin isn't making this easier: Him and his idea of a truce." "It's the advent week! It's a holy festivity…" but Siesta stopped midway, because the eye stare of Cog made her bit her tongue.

"Anyway, is Saito perhaps…well…free, sir?" she asked "He should be, if he's not taking a nap. Want me to leave him a message for you?" "I, I wouldn't ask to such length a Chevalier of…" "Cog, call me Cog, and do the same for Saito would you? He actually needs some brain rest" "Oh well, then…could you just, tell him I'm here and I wanted to…thank him?" "Yes, I will certainly do that" "thank you sir!" "Cog" "I'm sorry s…Cog!" and then with a bow, she left him with his liquor, his quill, his ink and the parchment on which he had to write. The owl stirred a bit "Cold huh? Going to snow isn't it?" The owl didn't reply. "I like you. Silent yet effective" he finished scribbling, then rolled up tightly the parchment, folding it repeatedly once the ink had obviously dried. He then gave a piece of meat to the owl, and sent him on his way with the message.

Saito was pleasantly day-dreaming the date with Siesta, which he went to the day before, it was already the tenth day of the month of Yara. She had even been worried about him, giving him some sort of medical drug, sleeping pills, to use in case he had trouble sleeping. She had heard that from Cog, who was now sitting in front of him, at a table of the inn, Louise was sitting at their left, and was listening carefully to their conversations. "She's so nice and sweet, ah I think I'm in love" Saito muttered to Cog. "What good is there in a maid for a Chevalier?" Louise replied, a bit nervous. "She's got some qualities. Redeeming ones too" Saito replied, and just so casually the look went to the chest. The flat board, the plains of flatness, the dream of every spirit level. "She…she's not at your level!" the girl replied again sternly. "And who would be instead?" Saito asked. "I…I don't know, but the maid is no good, definitely no good" Louise kind of looked cute as she was sternly opposing the matter, like a puddle cub who barks at a Doberman: stupidly cute.

An explosion behind them soon followed another. In silence they stared at each other for a moment "REVOLT" yelled some people on the street, soon followed by more clashes "The zero fighter?" Cog asked calmly "On the Varsenda" Saito replied keeping his cool because Cog was doing the same. "Good. Grab your sword and let's move" Cog stood up as the rest of the inn got suddenly rushed for the exit "To the kitchen you two, and you also!" Cog exclaimed, marching grabbing someone by the neck, the guy seemed like a messenger, who had a scared face on him. In the kitchen, Cog made his way to the servant exit, which nobody else had cared to exploit, apart the servant themselves. He threw the messenger on the road "Go and get some orders from command!" and then stood in wait.

"Cog? Shouldn't we help?" Saito asked him "Revolt. As in: you don't know who your enemy is. Stay still and kill whoever comes over with a weapon" he replied as he quickly barricaded the servants door with garbage bins. "Now, pink shrimp, hold you wand out and look menacing" "I'm a noble. I should be helping!" yelled Louise in reply "Yeah, one wrong move and you end up killing the good ones" "Cog is right, Louise" "Killing, killing and killing! You two can't think about anything else! I'll do something without killing then!" Louise replied yelling even higher "Yeah, annoying the enemy to death is a sure win" Saito replied, but Cog shrug his shoulders. "Let's just wait." A few minutes later, a messenger came back, heavily panting "Retreat. The order is to, retreat" "Good, heard the orders? We retreat"

Murmurs on the retreat column were that someone had poisoned the water, turning lots of friends into enemies; others said that the revolt was due to the low quantity of food and treacherous thoughts. Other yet again spoke of ancient magic, in any case, the army forces retreated till Rosais, where they waited for permission to retreat. "Commander Wimpffen" a messenger started saying towards Louise, who descended from the carriage she had been on until moments ago. "Commander Wimpffen? Means the rest is eating with the worms" Cog muttered, Saito gave him a bad stare, but he shrugged. It was the truth. "Commander Wimpffen has orders for you" he spoke to Louise, and Louise went off towards the high command.

"What do you think it's all about?" "I don't know" Cog replied shrugging. "You know for the past days, during the retreat, Louise looked more and more distressed" Saito said, with a sad tone of voice. This made the Commander of Genocide flinch an eyebrow "You alright?" "Yes, it's just that…" "that what?" "I mean, she just a girl, yet she was asked to become a tool for war…I just want to…" "Protect her?" "Yes, as I would protect anyone else" "What brought this change of heart about?" Cog questioned him curious "I don't know: it's just that I feel it would be the right thing to do to protect her smile" "Well, you've got worse than a tender heart: you've also got a soft brain" Cog sighed. "Let's see what's going on, then"

Louise was a bit pale, after hearing the orders; yet she bowed graciously and left the high command. She staggered as she made her way to get a horse, and was surprised to see Cog and Saito, her Familiars, no, something else. Friends? Maybe. She tried walking past them, in silence, but Saito asked her "Is something the matter?" with such a worried voice, at least, for her, that she couldn't hold it "No! Nothing is the matter" she said, her eyes going watery. "Nothing is the matter" she whispered again, before addressing Cog, "Treat Eleonore with care, got it? She's nice if you get to know her: I'm not going to forgive you if you play with her" "Something is amiss." Cog nodded before quickly grabbing Louise's hand and the orders written within. "Hold the line on a hill fifty leagues from the city. Neither surrender, nor retreat granted." Cog read in a clear tone of voice. "Seems suicide orders" he pointed out. "You don't have to follow them; you could run away" Saito said to the small girl "I won't, I have an honor as a noble" Louise replied, "Fine then, one last toast?" Cog asked as he got his hand on a wine bottle. "No, I don't feel like it" Louise muttered, "but there is…one thing" she said her face looking at the stone road "What is it?" Saito asked then "I…I want to marry you Saito" she said biting her lower lip. "Wait. What?" Cog and Saito's replies were the same. "It's because I don't want to die un married. Only that!" Louise meekly defended herself "Well…it's not like I can stop a priest…but if it will make her feel better" Saito said towards Cog, who sighed scratching his head "Youngsters this day, never knowing what they want…fine! I'm marrying the both of you"

At the empty temple, wine was poured in two cups, which were then given to the couple "It's in the ritual" Cog said, obliging Louise to actually have a toast. "Now, you both swear to love each other, help each other, live through each other hardships, until death does you apart?" it was a quick one, but Cog spoke in a clear, and official manner, one which would make people whimper in fear if used as an intimidating tone. Yet it also was incredibly soft. "I do" came as the reply from both sides. "Then drink from each other's cup and be together in the vinculum of marriage" as they did, Cog smiled warmly. "Now, let's …" but then he saw Louise fall down, swiftly caught by Saito. "Don't tell me you did that" Cog pointed out "I had to: I faked drinking, I slipped the sleeping pills in the bottle when you asked me to open it" "You want to go?" "Yes: please, take Louise on the ship and tell her…I don't know, something" "You are going to die, you know that? Away from home and all?" "Yes, but I don't care anymore. I realized your words: I chose who to kill and why. I will stop that army because I chose to protect her, they will kill me because they have to advance" "Then there's nothing I can do to stop you. Good luck, Hiraga Saito, Chevalier of Queen Henrietta" with those words, Cog brought his hand forward, and shook Saito's hand with a firm grasp.

"You know, Gandalfr is said to have gone up against thousands" Derflinger said from Saito's back, on top of the hill, as the army drew nearer "Really?" "well, as legends goes, and years passes by, the numbers have been inflated, maybe it was less than a thousand" "So, how many are we up against?" "Seventy-thousand" said a voice from Saito's back. He turned around, surprised to see Cog there, coming out from the bushes. More surprised yet was his armament. A two handed sword wielded like it were one handed, a tower shield, and five javelins on his back. "I would have come more equipped" he replied as to answer Saito's stare, "But this was all I managed to find in town" "Louise?" "Safe on the Redoubtable, a name a guarantee" Cog laughed it off "You aren't scared?" Saito asked him as he himself was shaking slightly.

"I grew accustomed to it. I still feel it, but I rationalize it. It's the adrenaline pumping in my vein, increasing my heart beat, telling me to run; but it's my brain and my heart that guide my feet, not the opposite" Cog said, with a smile "Enough talking however. Hope you remember that gist of a lesson: aim for them, forget the rest, kill or not you get to choose" "Yes. Won't this affect the judgment?" "Why would it? I'm volunteering for this type of death. I wasn't forced. I chose this. You chose this. So, no matter what, you have to live with it, no crying later" "Nice words!" Yelled Derflinger unsheathed and held firmly by Saito.

"I'll get the left flank you get the right one!" Cog commented as he began running, "Aim for the officials!" yelled Derflinger as Saito ran as fast, if even a little bit more, than Cog. The forward cavalry saw two figures, a two handed boy wielding a large sword, and a sort of armored metallic wall. The first one dashed through the cavalry, as fast as lightning, leaving the soldiers on their horsed dumbstruck. The second flung his Claymore sword as the side of a horse, the horse screamed as it fell on his back, but even more so when he was thrown by a kick of the guy towards the first infantry lines.

"General Hawkin sir! We are under attack!" yelled a messenger from the frontlines, before being torn apart by a javelin, thrown from far away. Quite close to the general actually. "What the hell is going on!" screamed a mage from Hawkin's guard, before a damn pike flung against him pierced his side. "It has to be elves!" was the murmur among the soldiers who couldn't see the front. The general however was sure it was something else. Two demons, two fighters of unstoppable strength were tearing apart his chain of command, and were aiming at him too. "Raise you wands and create air shields!" the general yelled, no sooner because another javelin stopped in midair, instead of ending his course against Hawkin's horse, and finished on the ground nearby.

Saito caught a blast of fire magic to his side, burning his left arm; he could hear Derflinger saying "Partner! I don't know how much magic I can still absorb" when he saw another mage ready to chant a spell against him. He slashed an infantryman who was moving closer to him on the chest, dodging to the side, and then piercing him through the weak spot under the shoulder joint of the armor, when a sword decapitated the mage. The two demons ended up back to back "You don't look well!" yelled Cog "You neither!" muttered Saito, Cog had far more grievous wounds; he had arrows stinging all over his side. "yeah, one of those guys risked friendly fire to take me down, something about his brother being killed" "No escape huh?" Cog muttered, only enemies all around them, "Stop staying still! If they surround us with pikes it's over!" then Cog charged forward again, striking down two pike men as he zig zagged for the next mage. Saito too ran towards the mage who had launched against him a fireball, and crashed against him with his shoulder, before piercing his throat with Derflinger.

"I'm not taking counts" Cog muttered, as his next enemy decided to come forth on his own: a troll. "The bigger they are" he gritted his teethes as he charged "The harder they get hurt falling!" he yelled as the Claymore chopped through the right foot of the troll, throwing it on the ground, but also breaking up the sword as it chipped the hard troll's bones. "Need a weapon, mind if I take yours?" he said, as an orc armed with an axe came closer, the human without weapon sounded easy to kill. Until his fist landed straight on the orcs' face, dislodging the mandible and sending his teethes flying. He fell on the ground, as his axe was taken by the human.

"We are 70000! How the hell are we kept at bay by two swordsmen!" Hawkin yelled as he saw the lines of soldiers break in front of him, but more poured in, eventually they would win, but he wondered how much the morale would drop. That's when he saw two figures dash forward, towards him and his mages. "Crap" was all he could say, before the two demons themselves reached his bodyguards. One of the two launched himself forward, he wasn't more than a boy, and yet he was flung out of his horse and onto the grass, as the boy's blade was mere inches away from his face, ready for a fatal blow, the boy stopped moving, and fell on the ground. Magical arrows were on his back, lots of them, blood seeping from every wound. The other one instead seemed to be still fighting his bodyguards. Maybe had he taken one at the time he could have managed something, instead he repeatedly got held at bay by fireballs conjured by the triangle fire mage and was at its strength end.

"Well, today's the day, isn't it?" he muttered to himself. "The nanites are sleeping, the sun is shining, and today I die" he added, speaking to himself yet again, as he rolled on the ground to avoid air blades slicing the air around him. "Had I known I would become an idiot, I'd have drank less liquor" he muttered, as an earth spike pierced his side, while he was rolling, but no cries of pain came forth. "Not giving you the honor of seeing me scream" he said, as he quickly got to his knees to dash forward –This time I'm taking the burns, but I'm taking the bastard down- he thought as the only weapon in his hand was the broken handle of the orcs' axe. Not an effective tool, but it would have worked.

Cog was soon engulfed by the flames, and Hawkin took a small sigh of relief. It was over. He sighed too soon: the demon emerged from the flames grievously wounded, but still moving, and pierced the cheek of the general with what remained of the wooden handle. The general was flung to the side by the blow. Then, the demon dropped on the ground, next to the boy. Hawkin coughed blood, as he could feel sharp pain taking over his face, but the blow hadn't been strong enough: he was still alive. "Sir…you alright?" as a water mage ran over and started healing his face, he looked at the two dead bodies he couldn't even speak; so much was the pain he felt. Yet he knew he had to say something "Bury…them…demons…honor" he tried painstakingly hard to say those words "Don't speak sir! You have a broken mandible"

That was when the boy stood up again, grabbing the other demon's corpse with him, and running even faster than before, dashing and jumping, into the forest nearby, and disappearing from sight. Nobody dared to follow. Nobody was that mad to follow one who could cheat death.


	11. Chapter 11:Negotiations and recuperation

Chapter eleven

Queen Henrietta was reading the last letter from the battlefield with a pale face. Cardinal Mazarin had just received the owl with the last report from the war, and had given the message directly to her majesty. "Cardinal, my mind is playing tricks on me: my Chevaliers were not in the city of Saxe-Gotha, right?" she asked, like questioning herself. "The generals moved them forward of their own accord, your highness; they were too strong to be left safeguarding Rosais" Cardinal Mazarin replied slowly. "He was…prideful. Here he's writing about how stupid it is to accept the peace agreement with the enemy. Strike the iron while it's hot. He uses a lot of sayings and proverbs." "Your Highness, who are you talking about?" Mazarin prudently asked.

"My brother; half-brother, but still, we had the same father" She muttered, taking another letter from her desk, and then looking down on both parchments. "Here he's also saying about how the city of Saxe-Gotha looks nice, like in a painting. How they are stationed there in wait for the end of the advent week, so tell me, Cardinal: why is it written here that the army retreated, and that the city is lost with high casualties?" "You…r brother…?" realization dawned on the Cardinal, about the strange Chevalier who resembled the king. "Your highness, certainly he must have been in the routing army" the Cardinal hazarded a guess "Why then is it written that the trump card was deployed to stop the advancing enemy army?" the Queen's stare was like that of a child who doesn't want her worst fear to come true. "I do not know yet, your Highness. Only Commander Wimpffen remains of the high gerarchy and he's yet to bring a full report in or the casualty list"

"I will read that casualty report, Cardinal: if Louise de la Vallière name, or that of one of my Chevaliers is in there, I will have the head of Commander Wimpffen" she replied coldly, "Now leave me alone Cardinal, I have to think about the treasure problem" "Yes, your highness" with that, the Cardinal left the Queen's room. He hoped in his heart that he could intercept the casualty list, and if case be, erase some names: there wasn't the need for a head on a pike now.

**Elsewhere**

Saito slowly opened his eyes. He could faintly recall being hit, repeatedly. The battlefield, the corpses he had left behind. This wasn't the battlefield. Firstly, it was an enclosed space, with a wooden roof it could have been a makeshift prison, or a cabin. He tried to move, but felt sharp pain all over his body which made him groan. As his sight got better, he realized he was on a bed, and had been bandaged all over his body. He slowly moved his neck to the door of the hut, and sighed. He would be going nowhere without his weapon, maybe he should commit hara-kiri to avoid giving information to the enemy, because who said this wasn't an enemy camp? Cog was nowhere to be seen: did they capture him too? Or did he die?

A feeling of guilt and sadness took over Saito, Cog had told him he had come because he had decided so, but in truth Saito felt it was because the man couldn't leave him, a boy, behind to die. Maybe Cog had managed to get him out of the battlefield once he had fainted. He shook his head; this wasn't the time for negative thoughts. Saito had made a choice; he now had to live with it. The door of the cabin slowly opened, and a girl entered with a basin and some clean bandages. Saito looked at her silently, but perplexed: something was off with that girl.

"Oh! You're awake, thank the founder!" the girl spoke, coming closer, yes, as Saito could see, there was something off. Two things actually, round and big. They were clearly of non-human proportions: a revolution, a Bust Revolution! "Who are you?" Saito mumbled slowly "My name is Tiffania" "Where are we?" "This is Westwood village…it's in the woods near Saxe-Gotha" "How did I end up here?" "I…I found you lying in the forest, heavily wounded…you have slept for two weeks" "Two weeks? What about Cog? Was there someone else with me?" Tiffania nodded. "He asked me to heal you first. I couldn't move him because he was too heavy; but he's fine…you can meet him if you want…but don't make sudden movements! Some of your wounds will still take time to heal" Saito sighed in relief.

"Thank you…but how did I end up here? I was in the midst of the battlefield, with Cog, and then…" "I don't know." She said, as she turned to leave "Please wait" Saito begged "Could you please bring me my sword?" "The talking sword?" "Yes, Derf." Tiffania nodded once more, before leaving. Saito placed a hand on his front, Cog was alive. So was he. How did the battle go? How did they manage to survive? He had so many questions, yet mostly none were concerning him. "I wonder how she's doing" he whispered to his ears, his thoughts lost thinking about a pink haired girl. Why did he go so far for her?

Using Derf as a walking staff, Saito managed to slowly move to where Cog was resting. The Chevalier was resting, his back against an old tree, and was covered in gruesome wounds which, however, already looked old and closing up. Cog heard him arriving, and slowly opened his eyes and smiled at the boy. He didn't have the sign of a bandage on him, and Saito was gritting his teethes in anger, why wasn't he being healed? "Cog! Are you fine? Why didn't Tiffania heal you too?" he asked, barely containing his anger, "Don't worry, kid; I asked her not to. I heal faster this way" he muttered. "What do you mean?" Saito asked perplexed, what about infections? Or blood loss? "We are genetically enhanced; blood clots nearly immediately when in contact with air, to prevent blood loss and our skin generates new cells faster in higher temperatures and with sun rays." After a moment he added "it still does hurt like hell."

"You should at least get inside…let me help you" Saito said, keeping his own pain at bay as he tried lifting Cog up, but he couldn't manage to lift him up before his knees fell under the burning sensations "I'm heavier than I look Saito, you'd need a horse to carry me" he replied "let me rest for a couple of days more and I'll be fine" "You stayed outside two weeks already" "I know. The girl was nice enough to bring me food and water. I have just started to feel my fingers again" Cog said with a smile "Cheer up boy" he added, as Saito's eyes were going watery "It's my fault: you're like this because you decided to follow me" "Now don't get cocky: you're not that important! I just wanted a good last fight, and it seems it was decided I'd live for another" Cog dismissed Saito's words with a hand movement "That's all there is to say."

"I'm sorry…are you hungry?" the voice which interrupted their talking was that of Tiffania, who looked at them with two plates in hand. "Now that you're telling me…" Saito muttered, his stomach heavily growling, "Yes." The boy took one of the plates from Tiffania, which looked like vegetable soup of some sort, and handed one over to Cog, who shook his head "How do you think I'm going to eat that?" as his eyes went to his hands, who were barely able to close and open "How did you eat till now?" Saito questioned him curious, to which Tiffania suddenly blushed and stuttered "I…hum…well…I used a spoon" "I see" Saito replied, then as soon as another thought arrived, Cog actually read his mind "No. I do not have your same corporal expletive needs. I can keep it for three to four months" "Ah…AHAHAHAH" and Saito began laughing, soon followed by Cog, Tiffania instead laughed a bit nervously, and then helped Cog eat.

"Are you also from another world?" Tiffania asked Saito, who had decided to sit next to Cog for the time being, out in the forest "Yes, did Cog tell you?" Tiffania nodded "He wasn't afraid of me. Of what I am" she said meekly, "Why? What are you?" asked the boy with a puzzled look "I…" the girl hesitantly started saying, before stopping embarrassed "he's good, he won't even flinch a muscle" Cog reassured the girl who then nodded at him and went on "I'm an Elf. A half-elf really" she said, removing the ample hat, that she had been wearing till then. Two small pointed ears came in sight, truth to Cog's word, Saito didn't even flinch "So…what? Should I be scared because…they're pointy?" "Elfs and humans don't seem to be getting along well, something of old history with holy wars and the like" Cog explained "I see…it doesn't matter to me" Saito shrugged. Tiffania's smile grew wider after those words.

**Meanwhile**

The Net station silently prepared for another plotted course. The engines charged with black hole gravitational impulses began shifting, and the Station realigned itself to a new Traslator course. "ALERT ALL PERSONNEL READY FOR COMPLETE STATION TRASLATION" the siren sounded, as the final stragglers moved towards the hibernation pods. The final commands were left to the Ai of the station, who adjusted the course and, once every living creature on the station was in place, prepared for the Traslator movement.

"We're moving an entire station for a single person?" buzzed into the ear of one of the last stragglers "So it seems" came the brusque reply, as the person who answered laid down into one of the last free pods. "You think he's dead?" "I don't know; orders are orders." "What if whatever killed him moves to us? I mean, he was a Commander of Genocide Elite class! The best we have are soldiers fifth class, and even those, are obsolete!"

"My father is a soldier Fifth Class of an obsolete Mark, and he's perfectly good!" snapped as a reply someone else on the nanite walkie-talkie. "No offense; but really, we would at least need a platoon of Massagon." "Yeah, and why not also the Original himself? Or an army of Elite Psychics?" joked another voice. "We have that Sniper and that Soldier who came from the Milky galaxy; I think one of them is First class" "Oh they're still here?" "Seems like it." "ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL STAND STILL FOR TRASLATION PROCEDURES" –so everyone's in- thought one of the guys in the cryogenic pods as his blood soon left place for the nanites, which would during the cryogenesis take the place of blood and all other fluids in the bodies. Then the traslation began.

**Back on Halkeginia**

One week passed, during which Cog finally managed to stand back up, and with Saito, they both learned how the war had gone. Also, how Derflinger had actually saved them both. A fact which the talking sword repeated for a long, long time. "So, the war is over" Saito commented "So it seems" Cog replied, slowly stretching. "Ouch" he muttered as he made a slowly faster movement "I'm too broken up to move. The nanites weight is killing me" "You can't remove them?" "No. I wouldn't remove them even if I wanted: I'm alive because of them. Broken but alive" "Nifty things. However…should we go back to the Queen to report?" "I'm sure she's having a fit by now" Cog said, smiling slightly. "I didn't think you were that close, after all, I mean, you're what? Her half-brother from space she never knew existed?" Saito asked curious "So what? You didn't notice the owl and the letters? I actually started a long time ago, you know." "Oh…so it was that! You were speaking with the Queen all this time!"

"The Queen? How do you know the queen?" Tiffania asked, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have overheard but…" she fidgeted with her fingers, and that kind of made her look too cute. "We are her Highness Queen Henrietta of Tristain Chevaliers" Saito said with a bit of…pride? "Don't worry though, we will be going soon" Cog smiled to Tiffania "Just the time to train this weakling here" he said looking at Saito. "What do you mean?" "I mean it: without Gandalfr you're a civilian. Since you decided to fight, I'm going to give you the harsh training I couldn't even start in Saxe-Gotha" to those words, Saito gulped. In fear.

As negotiations went by for peace, at Londinium, the capital city of Albion, the meeting among the warring parties went by smoothly, Emperor of Germania Albrecht the III, the King of Gallia who actually gave the finishing blow to Cromwell's madness, Joseph, and Queen Henrietta, albeit wearing a worried face, had reached its end. On the other side of the round table was General Hawkins, who had been named the ambassador for the defeated side. After Albion was divided, Hawkins muttered a couple of incomprehensible words toward the Queen Henrietta, once the rest had left "Please…wait…speak I would…like" the water mages had done miracles in not letting his mandible be lost, at first glance, it had appeared broken, actually, it had been nearly pulverized.

"Ambassador Hawkin?" the Queen waited, looking puzzled, Cardinal Mazarin had thought of intercepting the ambassador, but the Queen had dismissed him with a hand wave. "You…had…strong…chevalier" Hawkins muttered "Demons…strong…one…mandible…pulverized" he added slowly with visible pain as he uttered every word. Queen Henrietta looked at him, holding her hands at her waist, before saying "I know. Why are you saying that I had? I still do. Their names weren't on the casualty lists." Mazarin kept a cool face, he had actually removed those names with ease, they had been the last two, and he had just to make a nice straight cut. General Wimpffen's head was safe thanks to him, but right now, maybe, they were going to get into an even bigger trouble.

The Ambassador shook his head "Saw… they… fall… wounded… lots… burned… arrowed… mangled… impossible alive… " he said with pain "They…reason…you won" he added. "Could not…reach city…in time… honor their… death" Henrietta's face was unreadable at Hawkin's words. "I see. Thank you ambassador; I will do that much, once I'm sure they're actually dead." Then Hawkin bowed and left, and Henrietta turned to Mazarin "Cardinal. General Wimpffen report on casualties" "Yes, your highness?" "You forged it, didn't you?" the question seemed to be posed with such an ease and simplicity "Your highness, I just didn't want to add worries to…" "Cardinal, this is the only time I will forgive such actions, but for your own good, do not try this again" with those icy words, Henrietta moved out of the room, leaving the Cardinal alone, and scared senseless.

"Agnes" Henrietta said to a musketeer guard who had just entered her room in Londinium "Yes, your majesty?" "Travel to Rosais and search for the bodies of Chevalier Saito and Cog…and then report to me, if they are alive or dead" "Yes, your highness" "Before you go…can you tell me, what does revenge bring?" "I still don't know…" "You may leave" and with those words, Agnes left the room.

Saito wasn't utter garbage, Cog decided. He was nearly utter garbage. Not completely, but a vast majority was to be refined. "That's how you hold a sword all right" Cog said, sitting on a wooden chair "Now however I want to ask you a question: are you for a battlefield, or are you for an enemy?" "What's the difference?" Saito asked perplexed, to which Cog replied "Figure it out on your own kid that's the first lesson" "he's asking partner if he's willing to learn how to kill one or many" Derflinger answered "What's the difference? Killing is killing" Saito wasn't getting it "Partner, a broadside swing uses certain muscles, a pierce uses others, you may train the arms, but eventually one's muscles will change depending on how they are trained. He's asking if you're up for one versus one or one versus many"

Saito thought about it, pondered about it for a while "To help you decide better, boy, think about the battle we were in: we killed over five hundred twenty seven people and wounded over seven hundred. I killed three hundred thirteen and wounded six hundred and two. I'm a battle person, with broad swings, using friendly fire to my advantage, generating chaos and ensuing many end up wounded or dead, on the other hand, I make a lot of heavy and wide movements, which ensure I get a lot of damage, my stamina can hold it, as can my armor, but you'd have to train it a lot, and go around with it, learn to use it too" "You're saying it would be more difficult than learning to fight against a single opponent?" "I'm saying it can come later. Basics are nearly the same, but it's the difference between learning how to pierce and how to broadside swing. It's a choice"

Saito thought about it, he didn't want to kill because he wanted to, he wanted to protect those who needed to be protected "Teach me how to pierce then" "Then hold that sword like you mean it, closed in its scabbard and start running, twenty laps around the village, NOW" and as Saito obeyed, Cog watched him run in the distance. "Poor kid" he muttered, to which Tiffania looked at him inquisitively "Why?" "He's a civilian who's going to turn soldier to protect." "It's a heroic feat, isn't it?" "No, it means there are not enough soldiers to do the job: he's losing himself, so as to help others." The tone grew sadder, so Tiffania didn't press the argument any further.

Agnes had slept in the mud for days. At night in camps, as she saw the first rooftop of Westwood village, she had already been thinking of going back to her highness, and report they had probably been eaten by the wildlife. That's when she saw her sewer savior sitting on a chair, looking at another guy doing push-ups on the ground. With a heavy stone on his shoulders. "What's…what's going on here?" she asked, not believing what she was seeing.


	12. Chapter 12: Heroes coming back

Chapter twelve

"So, you were training him" Agnes pointed out, sitting on a chair inside Tiffania's house, drumming with her fingers on the wooden table. "Yes, I am still training him" Cog replied with ease, while Saito kept his eyes low on the wooden floor, not that he could raise them, seeing how the rock block on his back while he was doing push-ups made it all the more difficult. "Why didn't you at least report back?" Agnes asked again "There was no mean to deliver a letter with relevant speed. It would have taken more to ask someone than to wait until healed and go in person" "You know her Highness has been very worried" "I told her that casualties in a war happen." Agnes gritted her teethes "So, when do you intent to go back?" "I was thinking tomorrow, but actually, that all depends on our host" as he said that, Cog looked towards Tiffania.

"I…I don't mind if you stay some more…stashing wood for winter would have been hard without you…there are kids and elderly in the village, without Saito's help it would have been harder still to do repairs…so…the village…I…" she fumbled as she looked at her fingers nervously "No problem then. We will impose ourselves just for this night then" Cog replied "I suppose the bed could go to the commander: after all the hassles she went through to find us" he added, and Agnes sighed "It wasn't that difficult. I won't pass on a bed though…" "How…many…more do I have?" Saito gasped breathing heavily for air as he was still doing pushups. "You can stop now. The basic is to pierce, but you'll need an opponent...Agnes?" Cog didn't even use the title before the name, like he was implicitly familiar with her.

Agnes didn't say anything, but grinned "Well, I could use some warm up" "Careful there: He could prove to be more than a warm up" Cog replied smiling. "Want to bet?" "It would be like stealing candies from a baby" Saito actually saw sparks in the air, between the two's stare.

Wooden swords were used, and Saito was freed from the block's weight. "Are…are we sure?" he meekly asked Cog "Don't worry. Just keep your cool, remember how you fought, and wait for the moment to pierce" which was easier said than done when Agnes flung her sword at Saito, from top to bottom, making a wonderful arch with its tip, as Saito blocked the sword and got flung backwards by the commander's elbow. "Dodge and distance yourself! Don't block what you can dodge!" Cog said, as Saito had a hard time dodging "Don't jump backwards! Move backwards! Keep your feet steady!" easier said than done "Keep your eyes on her range!"

Agnes was concentrating, the counsels one Chevalier was giving to the other were sound, and that was what made her accelerate her attacks, she had started to realize that the training Saito had been enduring would make him a problem on the long run. "Pierce!" Agnes didn't understand why, until her sword flung out of her hands and onto the ground. "I was…distracted!" she said in disbelief. "I suppose you weren't serious" Cog replied simply, while the musketeer's commander massaged slowly her hand, "How did you aim so carefully?" she asked to Saito, who shrugged "I simply pierced when Cog said so" "That's stupid! What if it had been off your rhythm?" "Cog's pretty good, if he says I should pierce, then I pierce" Saito replied.

Some gut instinct from Agnes was telling her something was wrong in this method, yet there was no way she could have trained the boy better, and maybe it was just her being bitter about defeat. "Soup's ready" meekly called a voice, as Tiffania came in view from inside the house. –Something warm finally- Agnes thought.

The food was delicious, and except Cog who kept looking into the distance, out of the window, everyone else was a bit more relaxed, especially after Agnes talked of how the negotiations had gone pretty well. "The ambassador had a pulverized mandible, yet they got lucky and he didn't lose it which of you two did that work?" she asked at one point "I did, Saito was out cold by that time, then I got stabbed in the back repeatedly, so I fell down too" "Luckily Derflinger here remembered a magic to take control of my body. So I managed to carry us both out of the way" Saito added. "You did all that without using magic, didn't you?" Agnes asked again, "Charged straight in, stopping them on their tracks, without magic; I wouldn't be surprised if her Highness were to give you both some land." "Land?" Saito asked inquisitively "Well, to possess land is a sign of how powerful a noble is" Agnes replied.

"I don't know how to administer some land; I wouldn't even know where to start" Saito said in a bit preoccupied voice "Then it simply means you'd need someone to teach you" Cog pointed out "How about the pink haired girl, the girl you married, that Louise?" "Right! Louise! I forgot about that! How am I going to face her when we get back?" "With a hug?" Cog suggested before starting to laugh "she must have thought I died too" he added then "Well, you would surprise her, wouldn't you? Coming back on a horse with land and another achievement under your belt." Cog said again. "Wait; when were they married?" Agnes asked, perplexed "before the departure from Rosais actually; I married them myself. Though they should actually marry properly. You should ask her parents for her hand…" to which Cog chuckled "If they don't kill you, that is, you could make a nice couple"

Saito blanked again. "Maybe you were in denial of what you did, or in shock, and you forgot the consequences of your actions" Cog suggested "However I do not tolerate make-believe. So you'll have to pull it through on your own now" he added. "You gave your word, you should respect it" Agnes nodded too. They were staring at each other like rival wolves, and now they were both on the same wavelength. "I should however train more. I mean…I'm not good enough right now" Saito blurted out on the defensive. "Yeah…well…" Cog and Agnes looked at each other with a small grin. That was when the Japanese boy started fearing for his life, and Tiffania looked worriedly at the scene.

The next morning, they bid their goodbye to Tiffania, and left towards the port of Rosais "Hey, you don't intend on telling them?" Derflinger spoke after a while they were walking. "Why should I? It doesn't matter now." Cog shrugged "What is it?" Agnes asked "Nothing important, nor worth the time" Cos replied waving off the question. Derflinger stood quiet; not telling them that the elf was a mage, a Void mage at that, was certainly because she had asked to be left to live in the village in peace…right?

"I still think you should share what you know" Saito pointed out, for once smiling at the thought of getting back at Cog "I should have made you carry that rock block all the way to Rosais" he sighed as a reply. "Still not telling?" "There is nothing to say. So stop it." "Fine then" and the rest of the voyage proceeded in silence. At the port they were met with the Varsenda, waiting for them docked at the pier. "You came here with a ship, a warship, to bring us back?" Cog stared at Agnes who coughed "No. Her highness insisted, saying that since I would find you alive absolutely, a warship was the minimum to bring two war heroes back." "A warship. I'm giving Henrietta a piece of my mind on budget spending when we get back, Queen or not, a Warship for two is unheard and unneeded!" Cog muttered in a low voice.

Saito was, within himself, pleased about it instead. His efforts were being repaid, as that thought came across his head, a scream from behind him made him stop. "What is a life's worth! Can you tell me the answer! Monsters! Demons!" some of the crowd which had gathered had begun yelling, maybe recognizing them, and since this was still Albion, there was bound to be someone who knew or even was a relative of the soldiers killed. "Let's move" Cog muttered walking aboard, soon followed by Saito, who was biting his tongue strongly and keeping his eyes down.

On the ship's deck, as it departed, Saito turned to speak with Cog, but he stopped him "Live with it. Killing others from the same race happens in the beginning of a world's history; it's when it moves on and becomes a habit, that the race is corrupted to the core and needs cleansing" "I was going to ask you if you wanted to grab a bite" Saito replied surprised, Cog raised an eyebrow "Oh. Good." Surprised, but then smiling a bit he patted down on Saito's head, twice, and then moved towards the lower deck. It would be a long voyage.

The queen received them in a nearly empty room; everything of value seemed to have been sold, and a second hand desk had been put as the only furniture, that, and a small bed. The crowned head of Henrietta stood up as Agnes, Cog and Saito entered, and for the first time her worried face left the place to a bright smile. "B...Beautiful day is today" she said as she stood up from her desk, and came closer to the group "I must thank you, my Chevaliers, for the feat you have done" as her head bowed repeatedly, to show her gratitude, she pressed on "I should reward you handsomely, but the state's finances are in disarray after the war…" looking saddened by that "You didn't raze Albion's treasury?" Cog asked perplexed, to which Henrietta shook her head.

"No, the Albion's peoples were in need of bread, since Cromwell had taken their supplies, so the Albion's money was used…" "What did you gain from this war?" Cog asked again, pressing on, "Well…some land on Albion, which was sold for money to some barons of Germania" "So, basically, you earned nothing. Yet you want to reward us; right?" "I…it's just that…" "No, no, you did this clearly with the thought in mind to save Albion's people from themselves right? So, since they are now free you are fine, right? Yes, I'm sure being morally right will help the families of those who died" with a sharp slightly angry tone, Cog went on as Henrietta kind of looked like shrinking by the words "Yeah kid, you lost your father, but now Albion's people are morally fine! Guess what folks, the kingdom has finished the money, the government is in debt, and all this to be morally right!" Saito however didn't stop him, there was something else, in Cog's tone, like it was taunting Henrietta, like…the war hadn't been started to remove Cromwell. "Stop it now!" Agnes barked her hand ready on the sword's handle.

"No. She will listen: you know what I think? You did this for revenge, didn't you? You did this for that boy didn't you? For that prince Wales you brought your people to war. The result was a country destroyed thousands of dead or missing, finance in disarray and even worst, you can't even admit that it was for a personal revenge!" as Cog finished speaking, weeps and tears began coming forward from Henrietta's face. "I… I have sinned… I know… I shouldn't be Queen…" as she kept crying, Agnes stared in disbelief, and anger, at the Chevalier. "You! Her Highness was hoping for you to return safely, and all you have to say are these horrible words!" "So what?" Cog snapped back "There are no excuses! What matters are not the thoughts! It's not the words, or the letters, that decide what we are but how we act! Our actions dictate our being, what we do with our hands. This is all I have to say." With those words, Cog left the room angrily, leaving behind a dumbstruck Saito.

"I…I should probably follow him" the boy meekly replied, before following quickly behind the other Chevalier. Agnes was left in the room with the sobbing queen "Your Highness" she said kneeling down "There is no need to…cry; I'm sure he wasn't meaning evil" that was a lie for Agnes. "I know…I know." As she slowly stopped crying, wiping out her tears with a handkerchief. "I will do my best, Agnes. Please, when you bring back Cog and Saito to the academy, tell them…tell them I made Cog commander of the Imperial guard. He is to choose the best to enter the Ondine guard…and…tell him I understood his actions" she muttered, walking towards the desk to grab a parchment from the first drawer of her desk "You…you already had this prepared?" Agnes replied "I knew he would come back alive. So…since he has reasons not to stay long… I thought he would have refused land…I didn't expect him to dash off like that" with those words, the Queen handed over the parchment to Agnes, who nodded before leaving Henrietta alone in the room.

Saito on the other hand followed Cog, who reached for the outer garden and then left from the gate, while none of the Manticore corps tried to stop him, something about his face being scarier than their drill sergeant. "What was that all about?" he questioned him once in the streets "Look around" Cog replied, abruptly turning around "Just look! Look around yourself!" he added snapping angrily "People asking for charity, temples filled, war refugees everywhere. The least you can think about is that it comes for a reason! A good reason! For a good reason war can be waged, at least one can try and make a fake one good enough!" some people stopped to look at the fuss, but the Chevalier mantle brought many to mind their own business. "I didn't think you'd care this much…after all…this is not your country" Saito replied perplexed, wasn't that judgment thing supposed to be impartial?

"It is. Maybe I should have told you" Cog replied "It must have slipped out of my mind" he muttered "We can't talk here however; so let's go somewhere else" he growled, eyeing really badly the few who had stopped to listen, and who were now leaving hurriedly.

They reached their horses in the stables "You thought about a name for your horse?" Cog asked to pass time, to let the stable boy leave them, probably "I thought about calling it Louise" Saito replied with a small smile "no." the reply came with such a bad stare that Saito gulped "Then…Horse" "it's … oh well, better than nothing" Cog shrugged, until finally the stable boy left for something else. "So, what's this all about?" Saito inquired "Well, there's no need for judgment anymore actually. The Queen is a half-breed; she is thus legally entitled to enter the Intergalactic Empire as full-fledged Dystopian, and every under her have the same opportunity. The laws are pretty wide, and clear on such aspects. Those who wish not to follow will be dealt with accordingly"

Saito thought about it for a second, before asking "And what about the others? I mean, like Gallians, or Germanians and so on" "Well, they will be dealt as Henrietta decides, since she was here before me, she is entitled to overwrite my decisions on the matter, and thus it's up to her, really; she can have every single living being except those she wants exterminated, to the last men and infant, or save them all." "Does she know that?" Saito asked albeit feeling a very strange sensation…kind of relief actually. "No." Cog replied. "Why didn't you tell her? Wait; if she has the power, why didn't you just tell her that and have your intergalactic empire help in the war?" Saito was shocked "With what means of communication, Saito? My nanites are off since the time you went with the water spirit" "The war started before that! It would have been a flash" "I had to be absolutely sure: violet pigmentation of hair can happen naturally" "You…you weren't angry only at her…but also at yourself, right?" realization dawned on Saito "You…you actually care" "What? No." "You do. You care that people, people that could be saved, died. You spewed words on genocide this, and killing, but truth is, you are the one softhearted" "Don't get me wrong kid. Those I killed were targets or enemies. Those who died in this war are brethren: there is a difference." "If you say so" Saito replied mounting on Horse. Agnes silently got away from the stables, she had heard enough…far too much.

The return to the academy went well, what they both didn't expect was Headmaster Osman coming to greet them in person. "Oh! Finally I can meet the two Chevaliers! Which of you is Cog, if I can ask?" as Cog and Saito dismounted, "I have also received an announcement to make at the public hall once you both came!" he chirped again. Cog sighed "I am Cog, what's the matter?" "You have this letter from her highness, it arrived by owl" taking it, Cog began reading the words about him becoming the Imperial guard captain of the Ondine guards… "Let me guess…Ondine guard is pretty much important around here?" Osman widened his eyes "Surely you jest! The Ondine guards were the group of soldiers who protected the king and queens of Tristain in the past!" "Yeah…so it seems also in the present." Cog muttered then he grinned.

"Well then! I'll be waiting for the announcement" Saito replied as he was about to move towards the academy stables he got stopped by Cog's hand "You are now the Vice commander of the Ondine guards! Furthermore you are immediately to go speak with your pink-haired girl! Sort it out" "Miss la Vallière is not in the academy at the present" Osman pointed out "She left towards Albion to search for…well, her familiars, you didn't know?" "Nobody told us" Saito replied astonished "Well, she'll eventually come back" he added "No" Cog said "What?" "It's an order. You will go and speak with Louise, now" "But she's in Albion…" "Then…get moving" and as Saito got back on the horse mumbling something about injustice he got sent off again. "Oh…" Osman kind of looked saddened "Already in power and already so bossy, youngsters should be more lax" "No. It's for his own good really" Cog replied "I saw signs of fire on the outer walls. I smell burnt flesh. What happened?"

The headmaster sighed, "We were attacked by bandits, and Professor Colbert was killed while protecting the students from harm" "I understand, well, should we head to the public hall?" "Why would we? I had to make the announcement with both of you here. Now we'll have to wait. Pity" Osman replied with a smile. "Well played old man" Cog muttered moving inside the academy. "Still, I'm going to get guards for the Ondine group: don't interfere" "it's sad when students become warriors" "Precisely for that reason" Cog finished his speech, as he entered the academy. His first stop was going to be the library, however. He had some history to research.


	13. Chapter 13:To train real Ondine Guards

Chapter Thirteen

Cog sighed, turning the pages of the old dusty book. Many of these weren't going back in history as much as he had wanted. It was like reading the Middle Ages all over again, yet with fantasy elements and actual dragons. To his right sat the blue haired girl, the friend of Kirche, Tabitha. He had actually sat there without thinking too much about it. The girl hadn't raised a complaint, so it had felt natural to consider her accepting his presence there normal. "Tabitha, isn't it?" Cog whispered to her, but the blue haired girl didn't as much as raise an eyebrow, and instead, kept on reading quietly. "You know, I find your name strange" he added carefully, this too, didn't have any effect on her. "I mean, everyone has a full name, with surname, and titles. You are only Tabitha." The girl stopped herself from turning another page, and looked at him.

"Library is for silence" she whispered back, "That's true, however, I should note that while you wear the Chevalier title for Gallia, you have a wand, but no land assigned to." "Disgraced nobility" she replied "Which would be the correct call, however you aren't disgraced nobility, or others would know and treat you like such" Cog replied back "Like Louise, she's a disgrace in magic, and everyone makes fun of her, everyone knows the Gramont's financial situation is horrible, and so on. You have nothing on your side. That's the crack in your bluff" "What do you want?" Tabitha looked at him, this guy who had intruded in her peace. "The Ondine guards, recently formed, need good soldiers to guard her majesty." "I am from Gallia" "I do not care. I know who's strong and who's not. You're strong; and you have potential" Cog replied a smile on his lips.

"Conflict of interest" Tabitha replied "I know, but…if in the future, you were to be of the mind of changing sides…just know a spot is open for you" with those last words, Cog stood up and left, after signing out with him a pile of books. Tabitha returned reading, a strange familiar, to offer her a place somewhere and not even bother to keep pressing on…strange.

Cog moved through the wide corridors hearing the chatter of the second years "Guiche! Who was that girl?" "No one my dear Monmon!" he kept moving, were would he find good fighters? Kids weren't all that good. Find the best in this academy? It was easier to find a needle in a haystack. "Isn't that…wait!" the girl who called him and made him stop was the blond haired Montmorency, "You are one of Louise's familiars! Cog right?" she asked, getting closer to him with a worried look on her face, the guy, Guiche, the one he had given the psychological trauma of his life, and who had forgotten all about it, came close too "Chevalier Cog, it's a pleasure to meet again!" -that cheery attitude gets on my nerves- Cog sighed "As I already said to Headmaster Osman, we just came back, and no, we didn't know that Louise had decided to depart towards Albion."

"Hey, what are you doing with these books?" Montmorency asked, looking puzzled at some of the book's titles, "What do you do with books? You eat them, obviously" Cog replied sarcastically "Well, but these are magic books" "Yes, so?" "Commoners can't use magic" Montmorency replied like stating a rule, but Guiche thought about it "Well, maybe being a familiar, he can use it" "It could be…" Montmorency said. "Well, never mind that. You have to send an owl message to Louise to let her know you're alive and well! She was worried sick!" Cog would have shrugged, but he was holding books with his hands "No need, I sent my Vice commander to look for her." "Vice commander?" Guiche asked perplexed "The Ondine guards, I have been appointed Commander of the Ondine guards by the order of her majesty, the Queen Henrietta, Saito was thus appointed by me Vice-Commander." "The Ondine guards? They gave the commander's role to a familiar?" Guiche was stupefied, "and even the Vice-Commanders role at that…well, I don't know how much of a guard you will be able to form…if only you had a noble as Commander, or Vice commander, and not a commoner which became a Chevalier"

"Guiche, stop it" the one who spoke was Montmorency, her face a bit afraid "Why Monmon? I'm saying the truth" "Stop it or you're going to get hurt again" "Again?" "You forgot…I know, but please, don't do it. You will be hurt." There was even a hint of fear in her trembling voice. Guiche didn't understand but said "Fine then! I'm sure her Highness will decide for the better eventually. In any case, if you were to plead my noble self I might…gurgle!" the last wasn't a word; it was just the limit of Cog's patience, who had kept silent till then. In the end however he had snapped "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO JUDGE WHAT HER HIGHNESS THINKS? I CAN CAL LYOU UP FOR HIGH TREASON RIGHT HERE AND NOW!" with those words he had grabbed Guiche by the neck, lifting him up with his strong grasp, as the book fell down on the floor. "Never again utter a word in my presence if you value your life; have I made myself clear?" he added then closing Guiche's face to his, "He was joking! Please, he was joking!" Montmorency began crying at the scene, trying to move away one of Cog's arms, pleading. "No jokes will be tolerated anymore" and then Cog left the hold on Guiche's neck, who fell down on the floor, gasping, and panting heavily for air.

"To all the lot who's listening, the Ondine Guards, those tasked with protecting her Highness Queen Henrietta, are officially reinstated! For applications come and talk to me! If you don't have the guts or the devotion, then don't bother thinking about it!" Cog sharply said, before grabbing his stack of books and heading towards the Vestri courtyard; he sat down on the grass with ease, and began reading again. There, now people would know without him having to speak, and if there ever was anyone actually worth his time, he'd show up sooner or later. He didn't expect someone to actually show up so soon. A small cough made Cog raise his head, with a perplexed look.

There were quite a bit of guys. A lot of them. Just what was going on…As he stood up he realized from the murmurs, the Ondine guards position was also a way for nobles to earn an annuity, and that of an Ondine guard was decent enough, that if stacked together with others, would make a nice monthly amount. So nice that some were willing to fight a demon for it. Cog coughed a bit to get everyone's attention "Well then, all of you who want to enter the Ondine guards, raise your WEAPONS" at those words, many thought he would simply look for who had the most majestic wand, or who had more ability in taking it out from one's own pocket. His next words however were "Of all of you with a weapon in hand! Are you prepared for everything, for her Highness' sake?" As a cheer of yes proceeded, the smile of Cog made those in the first row take a step backwards, it wasn't a happy smile "Then those who will stand on their own feet by the end of the day will enter the guard! For I will show no mercy!" and with that yell, Cog charged straight through.

The infirmary got bundled up with a lot of students in the next hour, then, since many opted for hiding, Cog had to find them. When the sun was about to set, he was in a deadlock against a wind mage, whom Cog let pass, since he had lasted three minutes more than the one before. Those who remained were not more than thirty. Among them Guiche was also present "You may not be strong, but hell if you know how to hide" Cog said with a remark to the Gramont, who turned red from embarrassment, "Yes, sir". The reply so meek from Guiche was unexpected, the few who remained actually understood it in that moment; it wasn't a game to fake being a knight, it was something to take seriously.

"Now listen up! I want your names and surnames on my table by tomorrow! Then I want your abilities, if you haven't showed them to me already, known by tomorrow! Finally, a word: Once in, you'll be trained like you have never trained before, but I will bring you to hell and back if you obey! So remember it! I don't know if you're the best, or just the lucky, but I will make you the best or will have you die trying! Those who want to leave, leave now! For once I have your pledge, I'll accept no cowardice" The knights, who actually were thirty-six, silently became twenty-two, but Guiche was still among them. "Good! Get in line now!" he snapped, and as the students obeyed, "TO WHOM DO YOU SWEAR?" Cog yelled placing his hands behind his back, looking straight in the eyes of the knights. "To her Highness!" "To the Ondine group!" "To Tristain!" "All hail Tristain!" everyone gave their own swear, and Cog nodded. "Never forget it! You two! Go get permission to use the Vestri Courtyard for training, you other two…"

Meanwhile, Hiraga Saito was talking to himself, and to Derflinger, while quickly galloping on Horse towards the La Rochelle port. Along the road he stopped in Tarbes, to see how the reconstruction was going along, and to reassure Siesta's father about his daughter's condition. He stepped onto the next civilian freighter to Albion and sighed, his mantle and title was enough to let him on without questions, but he wasn't feeling well for another reason; he'd probably be recognized again. He kind of wondered what Louise would think of him, and of what he did. Siesta too had gone with her; he thought she had probably forced the maid into following her, how conceited would Louise be? The ship would depart as soon as a previous freighter from Albion would return in the harbor, it would be minutes away. As he made his way to the deck, to look up at the stirring clouds, he saw them divide to reveal a wooden hull, and then the vast figure of another freighter, which slowly descended on the pier next to him. A glint of pink caught the corner of his eyes.

"Could it be?" he muttered, as he descended hurriedly down from the freighter, "Seems I won't be going to Albion!" he yelled at the guy who had let him in before, who shrugged. Not his business. Saito ran on the pier, looking around quickly as people after people moved out of the ship, until a familiar voice was heard "Really! That guy coming back like this! Not warning or anything! Think if we hadn't stopped in town and heard about them by a passer-by!" "Mr. Saito certainly would have warned us: it must have been that other familiar of yours, Cog" "I'm giving them a piece of my mind!" as the voice grew higher and closer, Saito simply stopped and waited, having seen both the voices' sources. Louise was so taken in the conversation on what to do, that she simple collided head on against someone, and stopped on her track as she lifted her head. "Look where…where…Saito!" she yelled in surprise. "Saito!" the maid was taken aback too, "Hello" Saito replied with a small bow of his head.

"You made me worried. Stupid. Idiot. Dog. Familiar." Louise muttered as she bleakly hit Saito's chest with her hands, her eyes were watery, and Saito simply sighed. "My, my what a troublesome wife I'll end up having" he muttered patting her head until she looked up perplexed "What…?" but she couldn't finish the sentence, as Saito made his lips meet with hers, and Siesta simply looked at the scene, with a worried expression. –So he chose her- she thought simply. Well, she could still be second. Louise became red from tip of the fingers to the top of her head, "You…" Louise was at a loss of words "I am alive. Now, we better hurry back; I have a bad feeling about leaving Cog alone for so much" Saito replied with a low tone. Louise could feel something in her stomach, since when did her familiar become so manly?

Since they didn't have horses, they ended up taking a carriage, while Saito rode on his Horse next to it, smiling and every now and then waving to Louise, who was embarrassed by such display of affection. "Just where did he learn" she muttered to herself, Siesta sighed sadly "It seems I lost to Ms. Vallière…this manly Saito surely wouldn't cheat, luckily I have other assets…" as she said that she kind of raised her chest, subtle reference? Louise looked outside, but was surprised herself, Saito wasn't looking. He only had eyes for her it seemed. This did make her a bit more flustered than she already was.

The carriage was half a day away from the academy, when Saito saw something moving at the horizon, it looked like a mass of animals running, so he stopped and looked well, their shapes got more detailed, as they came closer, and closer, until finally it dawned on him; It was the students. Some of them, maybe twenty, were running on the side of the road, as fast as they could with someone in front of them singing "Who are we?" "The Ondine Guards!" "Who are we!" "The Ondine Guards!" "For whom we fight!" "For Tristain!" the yells came strong, but this was half a day from the academy, Saito didn't think he'd have taken so long. Just what was happening there? How did Cog manage to even recruit someone?

"Cog!" he yelled, waving at his friend at the head of the running formation "Rest!" Cog yelled behind him and the guys simply fell on the ground panting and breathing heavily. "You took less than I thought! Did Albion suddenly get closer?" he asked Saito, who dismounted Horse. "No, well" "We came back on our own, when we heard of the two demons embarking on a ship" Louise said, coming down from the carriage. "Now, you listen up! I've been worried sick! All you had to do was write something!" "We couldn't" Saito said "Send a message!" "We couldn't" Cog said "Do something to make me know" "We couldn't" they had both replied at the same time on that one. "You're having fun huh? Then get back by foot you!" with that said, she slapped Horse on the side and as the horse began to run forward, so did the carriage in which Louise had hastily ran back in.

"Feisty" Cog commented "Yeah…still, I'm sure I can make her change" Saito replied with a small smile, "Till then you're with us Vice commander! Rest is over! Back to running!" with those words, Saito began running too. He got to the side of Guiche, who looked like…well, he seemed driven enough to answer the yells, so Saito began yelling too. "Who are we!" "The Ondine Guards!"

They got back by night, and after an intimidating "Hit the showers! Five minutes!" and a quick showering, Saito actually realized the words. Quick shower. Shower. He had been too tired to process the information, but looking around he realized he was in a stone building, with actual metal showers. "Wh…what is this?" did the school even have this facility in the first place?

"Do you like it Vice-Commander? The Commander made us build this thing with magic. Repeated use of team cooperation" one of the other boys replied. The lockers too, sure, they were crude stuff, but they were made pretty damn well. "The Commander got the Headmaster's permission; this serves as a recreation and education facility, we even have access to an underground complex the Commander found perfect for training in combat, Sir." Being called Sir made Saito feel a bit awkward, "You are?" Saito asked then, realizing he hadn't yet asked for his name "Cadet René of the Ondine guards Wind Regiment, sir!" he replied swiftly, standing at military salute. "Ready in three minutes!" the voice of Cog came abruptly from the other side of the shower's doors "We are dining in the main hall with the other students, albeit at a different table" the voice added "I want you all serious! If I hear a joke of sort I'm going to grab your tongue and twist it in a tie! Show them the reason we are Ondine guards! " "Yes sir!" replied the cadets, and the Vice-Commander.

Louise had thought strange that Saito hadn't come over to her room to talk, but had finally decided to attend dinner in the dining hall, at least he would show up there. He did, actually. He was sitting to the right of Cog, while to the left was Guiche de Gramont. Montmorency had told her, when they had met during her arrival back in school, to find out why he had changed so much; probably Cog had his hands on that. The point was they were sitting at a different table, on the same level of the professors. The dining hall of the Alviss had different levels, a big table on the floor level for students, where the left side was for first years, the center for second years and the right side for third years, and the second level, which had the table for the teachers. At that level Louise's familiar were silently eating, they even had an air of importance which made her flinch. She was going to give them a piece of her mind if she ever had the chance.

The Headmaster stood up, and demanded attention, with a bit of wind magic, he increased his voice to be easily heard by everyone "Well then! Today is an important day, and you know why? Well, it's because we won the war against Albion!" "We won weeks ago!" muttered a student to another, "Thanks to the bravery of two men who are now the Commander and Vice Commander of the Ondine guards!" Louise had half a heart attack. What? The Ondine guards were tasked with protecting her Highness herself; it was a mythical group of the past, like high nobility, only without land. "I have personally given permission to its Commander, Chevalier Cog de la Lily" at those words the entire hall fell into silence. Cog choked. Saito didn't understand. Louise fainted. Osman went on "to build the military headquarters of the Ondine guards in the unused Vestri court" "What's going on?" Saito whispered to René who looked at him with a shared stupefied look "de la Lily is the surname given to bastards of the crown of Tristain…it basically means…" "Oh" Saito didn't need more specifics, somebody had ratted Cog out.


	14. Chapter 14: The Sleipnir ball

Chapter fourteen

"Sir Cog, would you taste this?" "No, this is better!" "He clearly doesn't like chocolate!" "Stop it you two! He prefers raisins!" the talk soon degenerated into a bickering. Cog sighed looking at the group of girls who had surrounded him, once more. On the other hand, Saito was watching a running Louise, who was running for some reason about her being chased by Kirche and some other girls, who wanted to know more about how she ended up conjuring as a familiar a bastard son of the king nobody ever knew something about. –Luckily nobody spoke about aliens or judgment, or I'd have a hard time explaining- Cog sighed as he grabbed the biscuits from each of the girls. He really needed some time in peace. The girls actually giggled at him as he started eating one of each slowly.

"I suggest you add a tip of vanilla next time; the chocolate one's could go without all the sugar you placed in; you should douse the flame a bit more" Cog gave cooking counsels to each of the girls, after tasting each of the biscuits. He used a gentle tone with a small smile, and many nodded, promising more the following day. –Why do I have to be so gentle? Sit-rep- "Ai functionality at 13%; Recharge at 4%" the Ai muttered to him before going back into hibernation mode. It was going to take a long time. The problem lay within the AI's system of energy collection; normally the solar nanites would produce energy and store it into the batteries. Then the batteries would increase exponentially the amount of electricity through the careful use of electrons in the atmosphere.

This however could only work outside of merging mode. The only way to exit merging mode would require a lot of energy. So he had to stock up in the old way, and be careful not to let the few, precious and working solar nanites break down or worst. As he thought about that he looked at the owl which had silently flew inside the dining hall, and who had decided to stop his flight right on the Cog's shoulder. He had a parchment tied to his claw. "Well, seems like business calls" Cog said hastily standing up, and straightening his arm the owl flew there, like he knew what Cog was thinking. "Vice commander! Get the troops and have them do double runs around the academy before lessons start!" "Yes sir!" Saito replied, standing straight and doing the military salute, before grabbing the Ondine Guards among the students.

Cog exited the academy, and was surprised to find another owl dropping down on his shoulder. "What? Wait a second." One was the usual old grey-feather owl he used to write and reply to Henrietta, the other was a bit younger, with golden feathers and sharper than usual claws. He had a parchment too. "Commander! We didn't know you were this popular with owls!" yelled Saito as he had started the run around the school at the head of the Ondine Guards, a snicker on his face. The others behind him kept on running in silence. "Vice Commander Saito can go for two more runs!" Cog replied as he grabbed both the parchments from the owls; that stayed there, with no apparent intention to leave. "So I've got to reply to both of you?" the owls nodded. "Let's go then" he reached for the Ondine Guards barrack, and walked up to his own quarters and the studio.

He opened the door to reveal a set of empty or half-filled bookcases, a wooden desk with a stone chair and a large glass window, which covered an entire wall of the room; the first success in creating glass through alchemy, fire and wind. There also was a set of trestles on another side, and a smaller yet more refined window which could be easily opened. "You go on the trestles, while I write the replies" he said, and the owls nodded once more before flapping their wings and flying towards the trestles, to rest from their journey.

He sat on the stone chair which slightly creaked, but otherwise managed to keep his weight. He couldn't simply relax on a wooden chair, since he always had to keep some of his weight on his legs to avoid breaking it. Merging mode was a hassle but during his training it had been part of the course to walk with weights and understand what it meant, so he wasn't overly stressed by it. "Now who's the mysterious stranger who writes to me?" he first opened the parchment from the unknown sender, and read:

_My betrothed, _this made Cog shiver, _I will be teaching at the magic academy of Tristain soon, to …_ Cog looked at the date on the letter, it was of two days before, _…I will be arriving in four days, arrange suitable entertainments and provide… "_What am I, a tourist guide?" he muttered _…I will be looking forward to a reply as quickly as possible from your occupation. Your lovely, _Cog skipped the rest of the adjective and then turned the parchment. "She wanted a quick reply, right?" he rhetorically said to the owl, and then wrote, on the back of the letter "_Yes_" before folding it, and placing it back on the owls claw. "There we have it: now you can go" opening the window near the trestles, Eleonore's owl flew outside quickly.

"Now what does my sister want?" he muttered, going back to the desk and opening Henrietta's letter. Now there it was, the reason he had been called like that. He had thought he had made it clear it would only bring more troubles than benefits. _Dear brother, I'm sure by now old Osman has told everyone who you really are, _thankfully not everything, _so now I'm sure your recruiting of the Ondine Guards will go more smoothly, _I didn't need it, but thanks anyway, _by the way, my captain of the musketeers knows who you really are, she heard you talking with Chevalier Saito, _you mean she eavesdropped, _but she has sworn not to say a word, I trust her, and I hope you will trust her too, we will speak more at the Sleipnir ball, which I will be attending. _"Trust…never ends well" Cog whispered, but then wrote a quick reply; _you should have seen Louise's face when she realized everyone else would know; I don't think revealing it will help me, I'm already surrounded by girls who keep pestering me with biscuits, and back talk is higher than ever. You should have probably thought it better, but now it's done, see you soon. Sin Nakkar Varsun Gherzunt, 578639. _

The letter was then given back to the owl, which flew away on his own. He sighed, and as he sat down again to scribble, Siesta passed him a cup of coffee. "Thanks…" he muttered before stopping for a second. He carefully sipped the coffee after a brief moment, and then, after putting the cup half-filled on the desk he said "Siesta" "Yes, sir?" "Cut the sir crap; what are you doing here?" "I have been assigned by headmaster Osman as the personal maid of the Chevaliers of her Highness" "I see" Cog muttered as he finished drinking the coffee. "Is there anything else I can do to be of assistance?" Siesta asked again, as she held the platter with the empty cup in one hand, "Nothing at the present, you're dismissed" "Thank you" and then she left.

"Fine. What next? No really, say it out loud, all that I'm missing now is a Nerghulian invasion from outer space…" Cog muttered, raising his eyes up high, sarcastically speaking to the ceiling; after a second however he whispered again "better not. I was joking on the Nerghulians; I'm fine like this, really". -I'm going mad speaking to myself- Cog thought as he looked at the set of blank papers in front of him. First off he had to take care of money for the training equipment, and also to grab a couple of smiths to start a work he had in mind. As he began scribbling in the silence in which he was immersed, unconsciously he started to whistle a melancholic tune.

The days passed until the Sleipnir ball arrived. As everyone started going in, Cog looked around for Saito, but the boy seemed late "Just where did he end up?" he sighed before going as dead last inside. The mirror of truth would look into his soul, and bring forth what he truly desired to become. From the other side emerged a blond haired men, with grey eyes and a blue mantle on his back, where knitted in golden was the word "Primus", as his height was on the two meters and twenty, he towered over the rest of the students, who obviously had taken on different appearances. Many prized taking that of Queen Henrietta herself, others had taken the role of heroes of the past, or famous family members. He noticed also Cattleya in a corner; it probably was Louise, after all nobody would take on the mask of that frail woman.

Many looked at him in awe as he made his way towards the balcony, next to the curtains a pink dressed Louise stood, looking nervously around. Well, one who had taken on Louise's appearance; "Strange masquerade" he said to the pink haired girl, whose difference in height with him was now quite overbearing. "Why would you say that, Sir?" she replied, meekly "Because the real one is over there, and has a nastier attitude" Cog replied with a small chuckle. "Cog?" Louise asked "It's me, and I suppose you're Hen…" but the sentence was cut abruptly, when Saito arrived on the balcony too. "Louise!" "Yes?" Henrietta replied being called so strongly next to her. –Let her have fun, sports, come back later for the grand finale- he actually thought to himself as he smiled widely "I'll be leaving you two alone then" and as he left he realized something half way…didn't he say he would have Saito keep his promise of marriage with Louise? The real one, not the one who was probably Henrietta?

"Just what is my brain thinking?" he muttered sharply as he made a quick turn, but Cattleya had already started moving towards the balcony; the Cattleya who actually was Louise. He started walking nervously, -what am I nervous about!- Behind Louise, who had strangely turned back to her former appearance? As this was happening also all around them, and to Cog too, he didn't think much about it, maybe it was part of the event, however, right now, it turned things to the worst. –Why didn't I intercept her? - He thought to himself again. –I could have stopped her before seeing- as he thought that his legs kept on staying at the same speed; what was wrong with him tonight?

Louise dashed off; again, probably misunderstanding the situation, but Cog, he simply didn't move. He was utterly shocked; his movements were getting slower, and slower. It was like… -SITREP- "Ai functionality at 67% Recharge at 5% Instability detected in sub-system, considering purge" –Purge? Wait that would mean removing all the nanites…I have to move. - "Move" he muttered to his legs, as a step was made towards the balcony. "Again" and another one. "One more" he gritted his teethes, the balcony was coming closer as Henrietta came out of there to speak at him, a worried look on her face "Cog…I…" "Not now." He replied back as he made another step. Sweat running down his temples, "Are you feeling fine?" Henrietta asked worriedly, seeing how he was acting "Fine, just need air" he took another step. Just two more till the balcony. "Purge initializing" the Ai beeped. He took another step. "Purge at 67%" thankfully it was slow, due to the precedent damage yet to fully be repaired; he took another step. "Purge at 98%" oh, one more step for safety. "Purge enacting"

Saito had dashed after Louise. The actions which had happened before were a bit hazy in his mind: he had gone to speak with Louise on the balcony, he had found someone really tall and strange there, who had left them alone, afterwards, he had tried to embrace Louise, who hadn't resisted, and then, after a kiss, he had found himself embraced to Henrietta, and at that moment, Louise had looked at them from the hall. She had then run outside and he had chased after her. Now in this mess, he had seen a figure sitting on a bench, and had thought it was Louise. "Louise!" Saito yelled but in truth it turned out to be Tabitha "Tabitha, have you seen Louise?" he asked her worried.

A dark shadow loomed over him, and Saito instinctively grabbed Derflinger's handle; looking up, it seemed like a strange winged demon, like those from the movies, but that wasn't all: in the corner of his eye, he managed to see Tabitha chanting a quick spell, and launching it against him. He rolled to the side, avoiding the Icicles which were being directed at him. "Hey! We are on the same side!" Saito yelled holding Derflinger in a defensive position. "No" the girl replied, moving closer with wind magic, so fast that Saito could barely see her movements. Without training from both Cog and Agnes, he'd probably have a hard time. As more ice was thrown at him, he flung Derflinger to the side, positioning the sword's tip straight in front of him. The movement wiped out the Icicles and then he charged. He recalled Cog's word. The basic is to pierce. Pierce strong, pierce fast, pierce precisely. Tabitha however was fast too, wherever by training or magic, she strode past him, and launched another attack. Saito had his back towards Tabitha, but instead of turning straight away, he jumped to the right, without looking back. "Partner! Down with the head!" Derflinger was helping him, with his 360° vision.

"Teamwork always wins against a loner; that is what being in a platoon means" were some of Cog's words during the Ondine Guards training. Tabitha wasn't fighting against a single enemy, but against two of them. "Partner! She's got assassin movements!" "Fast one shots, weak distractions!" Saito replied, with a small smile, training key words for battlefields had its merits: he now knew what to do. Tabitha kept her wand ready, when a voice boomed from above them "Do you have any problems, Knight of the North Parterre?" the voice came from the demon, which had slowly descended. On his back stood a figure. A pink haired one "What are you saying?" Saito yelled not understanding the turn of events, "This girl is our loyal watchdog, but now let's see this fight, Chevalier versus Chevalier"

"You think it's funny, isn't it" Saito muttered. "You think I'll accept your terms" he added "Well, I've got a bit of advice for you" as the monologue went on, Tabitha began uttering words for a bigger spell "Hey partner! That's a javelin, you should dodge it, not speak to it!" "I'm tired of this. Tired of killing. That is why I'll put an end to this" as Saito said that, he grabbed Derflinger tightly, "Derf, we are cutting that golem down" "You think you can come this high!" "I do not think. I act" with those words, Saito dashed. Tabitha completed her spell, and as the ice javelins launched themselves forward, Saito didn't dodge. He took them all, his sword shone brightly, as the magic from the javelin was being absorbed, and one after the other they cracked and burst into vapor as he drew closer to Tabitha. "Control!" Saito yelled, and as Derflinger took control of Saito's body, thanks to the magic absorbed from the javelins, his strength was effectively without the normal limits.

He flung the sword on the ground, making a swooping motion inches away from Tabitha's face, who stared in shock at the speed of the boy; with Derflinger as a makeshift pole, Saito launched himself into the air with all the strength he could muster. "You are without weapons now boy!" yelled the demon, but Saito, in midair, smiled. Something brightly shined in his right hand, as his runes brightly flashed; as he came down on the demon's head, it was severed and cut in two. The thing turned to clay, and grabbing the sleeping Louise from his back, Saito landed down, gritting his teethes from the fall. In his right hand was a knife. "Why didn't you kill me?" Tabitha spoke looking at Saito's back. "Because you're a friend, and I don't kill friends. I protect them" Saito replied turning to look at the blue haired girl, who had, without her even knowing, started crying.

"I will have her! One way or the other! Your treachery will be reported, knight of the North!" the voice that yelled was even stronger as another demon, fifty times bigger and shaped like a bird, began descending, together with minor flocks of demons "Gargoyles…lots" Tabitha muttered, as she began chanting a spell. Saito gritted his teethes; this was going to turn pretty badly, the sound of a siren was giving him like an alarm sensation. Wait. "The sound of a siren?" the next moment, a blazing red pillar of something came from their side, heating the air nearby to nearly unsustainable levels, and it seemed directed at the flock, which vaporized in the blink of an eye, living behind only charred rocky remains.

Once a purge is initiated, the Ai reports the number of nanites to purge. In case of many non-responding the program uses a total purge. First, the battery nanites, who are used to store energy, are discharged, together with any radioactive waste which could have been produced. Usually it takes the form of a pillar of pure white energy, which does no damage nor emits no heat to things in its proximity, but utterly pulverizes things which are in its path. Cog's batteries were already low, so the amount discharged was lower than usual, but many of his nanites were offline, so the pillar turned out not completely confined.

To Henrietta, who had followed her brother back on the balcony, she had simply seen Cog raise his right palm, and blast forward a pillar of fire towards the air. Cog instead had seen a fight going on in the courtyard, and had decided to remove the biggest obstacle, but with the unfocused pillar, he had risked charring to the bone both Saito and Tabitha. To Myoznitnirn, who had watched the scene unfold, it had simply seemed too…impossible. The entirety of her golems, destroyed, in the blink of an eye.

"Nanites discharge completed. Merging mode deactivated" with those final words, the nanites which had till then clung to Cog's skin and bones, detached themselves, and came pouring out, Henrietta gasped but tried her best not to flinch, as what looked like a swarm of black dots emerged from any conceivable place and formed what looked like a solid block of metal, the height and width of Cog. Then, as fast as it had happened, it stopped. Cog began breathing slowly. "This…is you being fine?" Henrietta asked, getting closer "Yes. It's fine. I'll explain later. You should go back in, they're bound to ask questions" Cog replied, a strained smile on his lips, but Henrietta shook her head. "No. You don't feel well, and I'm a water mage. Stand still and let me heal you" "No really, there's no need to…" but Henrietta had already begun chanting the words, so Cog sighed and waited.

As Saito and Tabitha stood there, a bit dumbstruck, Louise woke up. She was in Saito's arms, in the courtyard, why? She had followed a soothing voice of one of her friends…no, of the enemy. She had been kidnapped, and now she was there. "Let me go!" she started fighting to get free from Saito's grip "Louise! Please calm down" "No! You liar, you traitor!" "I didn't know! I realized it later!" "You still didn't look so worried, you dog!" "I was surprised!" "Liar!" Louise would have smacked Saito on the head, but she couldn't reach him, and as he kept on giving the same excuse, she even began to think it might have been that. "Hey, you intend to let me down or what?" she muttered "Why would I? We're married remember?" "We…we are not! It was just…for make believe!" Louise didn't know what to say of smart, so she said something stupid, while being also embarrassed about it. Saito sighed looking at her "When Cog will hear this, he's going to kill you" and he said it with such a certainty that even Louise was prone to believe it "Why would he?" "He said so…no make believes with people I marry" "Ah…well…then let's not tell him" "Yeah" with those words, Saito let Louise down.

**Somewhere else**

"Traslation procedure terminated, piling up halted communications" as the Ai brought back from stasis the chambers, he brought one communication above the others, when the first technician came back to the console; he stared blankly at the message which was flashing on the screen. Then he went to take some coffee from the machines down in the lunch hall, were some people out of stasis were chewing down solid food after a while. "Hey, I've been on the message console" "Yeah?" some of the guys eating stopped and asked the others listened intently, "Seems we have a problem" "Which is?" "The radar is fried probably, we should be in sight of the planet, but there's nothing out there it's completely empty" "What?"


	15. Chapter 15: The unstoppable Shaitan

**Ps: Thanks for the reviews guys. Although I don't reply to any of them, I read them all and take them in consideration! I had some trouble with this chapter. Since Cog actually stole the spotlight from Saito. Sheesh. Stupid OC guy.**

Chapter fifteen

Water magic was able to mend wounds, broken bones, and even internal bleedings; however it could not completely soothe chronic pains or already sick organs, even a triangle water mage would have failed to keep enough willpower to completely heal Cog's internal injuries, produced from the forced removal of merging mode. The majority of them were closed thanks to Henrietta's water magic, so he wasn't on his death bed; however, he had been forced by the Queen herself to stay in the infirmary, where he had fallen asleep for some time. He had no idea of what had happened in the courtyard, though he hoped someone would update him as soon as possible, but as he opened his eyes, he could see from the window that the sun was already high in the sky.

Cog sighed, looking at the infirmary's nurse, and muttered "What are all this packages?" his eyes then slowly traced an arc towards the pending mountain of packets, packages and sweaters? There were also some scarfs in there. "Gift for Sir Cog's soon to be wellbeing" the nurse replied, "I see" he had no intention to open them all, "If you are in pain, please warn me" the nurse said again, "I can live with pain" Cog replied, as he stood to sit up on the bed, letting his back rest on the wall, "You should not move" the nurse said again "I'm fine" "You've been worst, is what you want to say, right?" the voice came from a stern looking woman, who had just entered the infirmary. It was Agnes. Truthfully, she was after all the captain of the musketeers' corps, and was meant to protect her highness until the Ondine Guards were ready.

"I've been seen through; however I am fine, there is no need to worry" Cog muttered again, smiling slightly, "Could you leave us alone?" Agnes asked the nurse, who nodded and left the room, "I'm sure you have questions" Cog stated first, to break the ice, Agnes nodded and took a nearby chair, and then she sat down next to him, piercing him with her stare "You said you are Queen Henrietta's half-brother" "Actually, I'm her brother." "You were not born from Queen Marianne however" "From my empire's point of view, there is no *half* you either are, or are not." Cog replied simply. "I see, your empire, is it correct to presume it's really vast and strong?" "Yes and…" Cog sighed, "No" he finished, then he looked back at Agnes with tired eyes "We are strong, yet we are in a deadlock where millions of life die every hour, where planets itself burn to a crisp in the blink of an eye, where every single resource spent is needed"

"And this planet would be thrown inside all of this?" Agnes asked in disbelief, millions of life dead every hour was a thought which made her shiver inside. "Probably not; your race is young, yet it will probably come to this, but so far away in time you could live in peace the rest of your life over and over for hundreds of times" the future never sounded so bleak to Agnes, "Why did the war start? Why can't you seek peace?" Cog bitterly laughed "There is no head to ask! You know what a weapon is, right? It's a sword, a gun, cannon, it shoots when the hands move and does what is needed for it to work." "Yes, so?" "We are fighting living weapons. The Nerghulian are not a race di per se, we are fighting a biological weapon of mass destruction, which we ourselves freed from the grasp of their creators!" as he said so Cog looked down at his bed sheets, "And I was there."

He whispered, "Thousands of years ago, I was there. As the last of Soldiers, I was there. On that planet, ready to deliver the killing blow to an old race, which maddened with fear of losing its existence, created such a biological weapon" a brief pause, as Agnes eyes grew wider, "I pulled the trigger which unleashed such hell, and yet, it wasn't me." "Have you gone mad? You're joking" "No. Memories are but electrical impulses stored in neurological cells inside the brain. They can be saved thanks to a Chronos, and then implanted into other bodies." "Wait…you're saying…" "I am saying that I have inside of me, like any other Elite class soldier, the memories of the men and women who fought the most hard and important battles in the history of my empire, I have the memories of Supreme Commander thirty-two, who brought the second Infantry division to win the war of Australia, I have the sadness and grief of the sole survivor of the Perseus accident, I have the strength of soul of the Massagon who fought the tide of Nerghulians on Ghul Nine till his last breath. I have all those memories, all of them, and many more, inside me."

"Just…" Agnes had no words. Everything seemed strange, stranger than any novel she could have ever read, if she ever did read a novel. "There is no need to worry about it. Counseling specialists will be available for those in need. Heck, they have nothing to do most of the time" Cog replied with a small chuckle. "How can you…keep this up? I would go mad…not knowing which memories are mine and which not" Agnes said "Why would I need to keep it up?" Cog replied again, a broad smile on his face "You see…you just need the right point of view, and then everything makes sense. You can put many books in a library, right? But does the library stop being a library? No. Sure, maybe it can become a fantasy library, or a romance library, but it remains a library. Everyone is unique, even when perfectly similar to one another; maybe some have a book on the right shelf, others on the left one, and even if they have them on the same order, they may like some more than others, or read some in a different view than others. That's why there's nothing to keep up. I am who I am."

"Her highness wanted to be warned when you'd wake up. I…I better go tell her" Agnes hurriedly stood up and left the nursery. Once outside, the captain of the musketeers corps still couldn't believe what she had heard, it was already the second time. Yet she had felt another sensation. There was no way they could fight Cog's empire. Important things in an army are morale and supplies, and then come firepower, and finally numbers. However the mental state of the soldiers was also important, since it directly affected everything else, if Cog, even in such conditions was able to smile and laugh…what about the others? Maybe he was an exception, but if he wasn't, they were pretty much stronger than any other military of Halkeginia combined.

Saito on the other hand was on the Ostland. The ship had arrived over the morning and when Professor Colbert had descended from it, the Japanese boy had looked down, embarrassed on what to say. Thankfully the silence was interrupted by someone else's rash actions; Kirche literally jumped on the professor, calling him "My Jean! You are back; I've missed you so much!" "Please Miss Zerbst" "Kirche! I told you to call me Kirche" It seemed that Kirche had faked Colbert's death to avoid the wrath of Agnes, who, luckily, was nowhere to be seen in the morning, like Queen Henrietta. Headmaster Osman was there however "Professor Colbert, this seems like a wonderful invention. What do you think about using said design for warships?" "This is just an exploring ship; its function is to minimize the use of wind stones and the only weapons it has are for self-defense. Furthermore everything has been paid by Miss Zerbst family, therefore this is a Germanian ship" "I see, keep up the good work flame serpent"

Louise was still mad at Saito, who, that same night, had not slept in her room, but at the Ondine Guards barracks. Something about having a room for himself there too. –Saito is getting further away from me- she thought, -No, he loves me, he married me- she thought again –But I said it was make belief- she sighed again. Her heart was in turmoil, why couldn't she simply go without her pride? –I just want him to look at me, not at this stupid ship!- She stared at Saito's back, who was actually understanding what Colbert was saying about steam engines and so on. Cog was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Henrietta. Siesta however was smiling "Did Saito find Miss Vallière?" she asked courteously. Louise gasped in silence, taking it as a no; Siesta giggled "Then I can use Saito for a day, right?" "He's just…a dog!" Louise replied moving towards the side of the ship, to watch the scenery, or more probably to simply get away from the noisy maid.

Queen Henrietta boarded the ship with a curious look on her face, albeit her gaze was on Cog, who, while clearly having signs of being bandaged, still was there, walking and wearing his usual chevalier uniform. He had a broad smile as he laughed "Vice commander! You've got some explaining to do!" Saito took a bit to move right in front of him, looking embarrassedly at the queen, whose face turned a bit red as she nervously looked at the other chevalier. Louise gritted her teethes, having turned to watch the scene. Siesta had a surprised look on her face. She was quite good at reading people, and at the present, something was ticking her off; it was the queen's face. She moved closer to Louise and asked "Miss Vallière…is something going on with the queen?" Louise's gasping face was enough to confirm her doubts. "Saito is really wonderful, to even sway the queen's heart" the maid muttered again.

"Chevalier Saito…" the Queen said bringing forward her hand, which Saito slowly made the gesture of kissing while bowing, then, as he stood back up he replied to Cog "I don't know… I mean me…" "I was speaking about the courtyard fight, Vice-Commander" Cog replied, laughing hard again, he looked in a good enough mood, so Saito smiled too, and replied "I don't know actually about that, I saw Louise being kidnapped and I intervened to save her" he kept out Tabitha trying to attack and kill him first but described the rest "And then Tabitha came to help me against the flock, but something destroyed them before they could even land" He finished "Yeah, that was my fault, sorry; had I aimed badly I would have probably scorched you two to death" Cog replied slightly bowing his head. "What?" Saito asked perplexed "Had a malfunction with the nanites, nothing problematic though" "My brother tends to diminish the actual harm he incurred in, please Chevalier Saito, could you make sure he doesn't keep this up?" Henrietta said, smiling at Saito. "I…I see, well yes"

"I think Tabitha might know more about the attackers though, so maybe I should go and ask her" "I can come too" Cog added "Brother…" Henrietta puffed her cheeks in such a cute way that half the men on deck were even more swayed than before to *the flower of Tristain* the other half was hoping for a way to kill that guy. "I'm fine, there's no need to fuss over me Ann" he replied before starting to walk towards the academy, while Saito kept his cool and waited to be dismissed "…Keep an eye on him" Henrietta told Saito, with a reddened face. "Will do" and Saito ran after Cog; now more than half the men and students who had seen that scene unfold wanted to kill Cog.

Tabitha's room was empty. Filled with book that is, and a bed, and a desk and a chair, but empty of its usual occupant. There were no letters, so there was little to nothing to find out her whereabouts. "She left?" Saito muttered looking around the room "No, her change of clothes is still here" Cog replied, looking through the dresser. "Where could she have gone?" "Well, she is from Gallia, right?" "Yes, so?" "The voice told you she was under orders, and she was a chevalier, right?" "Yes, so what?" "You are clearly not suited for thinking, Saito" Cog replied sighing, as he looked with fake disappointment at his friend. "Wait. She's from Gallia, so she's a chevalier from Gallia…so she works for the Gallian royalty!" Saito exclaimed, after a bright light of understanding dawned on him. "Good. Maybe you're not completely to waste" Cog replied "Then we should warn Henrietta!" "Yes: you do that, I think I have an errand to make" Cog nodded, before leaving.

Henrietta was having lunch with Louise and other girls among the student population of the magic academy, when Saito arrived to explain the situation. "I see. We must be sure however, and then strongly protest to the Gallian ambassador" "But we must act soon" Saito replied "No, you must remember that as Ondine Guards your actions are those of Tristain; it might bring an even worst political situation than Albion" "Your Highness, but Tabitha helped me save Louise" "We must go through official channels however, we don't even know where she has gone" as soon as Henrietta had finished those words, a gust of wind blew open the hinges of the nearby window, riding on Sylphid was actually Cog "I've got some business to attend to! I won't be coming back for a couple of days; somebody tell my fiancé that I'm very, very sorry about that!" he yelled before departing, as fast as he had arrived, on Sylphid.

Henrietta kept her cool, even though the meals and the platters had been scattered all around, and the air seemed frozen from such a way of…entry? Saito stood very, very still. "Chevalier Saito" the queen said looking at him with a smile that, for once, made Saito shiver. "Yes, your highness?" "You are relieved from your duties as an Ondine Guard: you are also under arrest until my musketeers manage to get my idiot brother back." "yes, your highness" Louise had assisted at all this show without saying a word till then, however she stood up, "We should be going too" "No, Miss Vallière it is too dangerous and furthermore, you belong to one of Tristain's most prominent families" "Then I'll renounce them." "What?" Henrietta was shocked, as were the rest of the students, "I can't let one of my familiars go alone, so I'll go with him" with those words she removed her mantle from her shoulders and handed it over to Henrietta. "I see…however I can't risk you too, Louise; Agnes! Arrest her until she has cooled down" with those words Agnes placed her hand on her sword "Please do not resist arrest"

Louise looked at Saito in hope, but Saito's words made her cringe inside "There is no need: I have faith in Cog" then he gave his mantle back to his Highness with a smile and left the room whistling. Louise fell down on the chair like emotionless. "Idiot" she muttered in silence, he really didn't care at all about Cog? Agnes didn't actually arrest him, since he had seemed honest in not wanting to go. So, when at night a report came that the Ostland had departed, she was surprised. Even more when she realized her guards placed to keep an eye out on the other nobles had been knocked unconscious.

Cog in the meantime was on Sylphid's back, "So, let me get this straight: you can talk, you can understand me, and you can learn any language fast, right?" "Yes" came the reply from Sylphid, albeit a bit more croaked due to her dragon form. "Good. Now you said an elf kidnapped her, right?" "Yes" "Elfs are really scary and powerful right?" "Yes, no words to cast magic. Uses ancient magic" "I see" if everything went as he thought, Cog might try that plan out. "You will save my older sister right? You're very strong" "Yes, I already told you I will. Let's just get there fast; we will have to cross the border as you said and we might be intercepted if we take our time" with those words, Cog leaned as much as he could on Sylphid's back.

"Listen, you'll have to trust me; steer to the right!" Sylphid obeyed just in time, as two white wind dragons with Gallians emblems drove to intercept them in the sky descending from their hideout in the clouds. "They might catch up with us" Sylphid replied "It's what I'm counting on. Fly downwards when I tell you and keep concentrated" Sylphid understood, and when the two wind dragons began following them, Cog yelled "Now". The Rhyme dragon began descending towards the ground at a high speed, soon followed by the two wind dragons; the two riders didn't expect that the intruder would voluntarily jump from the dragons back and punch through one of the two dragons head, smashing its skull and then, like an unfathomable fury, fling the rider against the other one, dismounting them both and making them plummet to their death. Sylphid flew just in time to catch him, and then to proceed towards the mansion "You are strong" "I know, but I have limits too"

Saito was with the other in an inn, a couple of leagues away from the border. They had used the Ostland as a diversion, after Saito had managed to knock down the guards left to keep an eye on those who wanted to go help Tabitha, and they had actually gone by horse. "Confound your friends to knock out your enemies" was a sentence Saito had kept on repeating with a smug look on his face for a while. Louise had said nothing; she had misunderstood Saito once more; maybe she was the one without enough trust? "I think we are surrounded" Colbert whispered, truthfully, from outside came the booming voice of Agnes "Come out and drop your wands! We have your horses!" "Maybe if I go outside…" Professor Colbert suggested "No, there's no need" Saito replied "We just need Montmorency here to cast a water wall on them" "I…I can't conjure water walls" the girl replied, to which Saito flinched an eyebrow "And you're a water mage?" "I'm the Fragrance! I know healing magic" "Vice commander, I can take care of them" Guiche replied seriously, his wand, a normal wand and no longer the rose-like thing, in his hand "If we wanted to harm them, then I'd say yes, since we don't however…have Verdanti dig a hole" as Guiche nodded, Saito muttered "Now Louise, use Illusion and conjure fake ourselves outside, and fake magic."

Louise nodded, raising her wand as she began casting the spell. "We are coming in!" Agnes yelled, but as soon as she said that, the illusion spell began working. Their copies ran off from the front door and as they began casting, Agnes gave the fire order. Fire walls, stone walls were created by their illusionary copies, and the musketeers couldn't thus understand what was going on. When the illusion stopped, they had a moment of utter surprise: there was nothing in the area of the fight, not even debris. "They escaped!" but worst of all, Agnes' voice had also a feeling of guilt. She hadn't hesitated to give the order to fight. Yet she had to capture them "They can't have gone far! Search for them!"

Sylphid reached the mansion as the night left the place to dawn. The sun's rays slowly crept their way atop the mansion's roof, where Cog had asked the dragon to leave him "I'll bring her back, don't worry" he then slowly made his way to the side of the roof, which gave on a broken hole in the wall, he kneeled and as he jumped held his hands to catch the roof, so as to swing inside. The room was in an utter mess. He knelt down and started pinpointing the various things in the room, a broken gargoyle here and there, a sort of concentric damage done by blades, or similar, centered on a point "Kind of like a tornado" he recalled that of Henrietta, it was similar. "Hey you. I can feel your breathing from here. You are probably old, and weak. Come out or I will have to force you to" Cog said, as his hearing was unaffected, and could feel a heavy gasp, as from a small hidden room nearby an old man came forth.

"I suppose you were the butler here, right?" "Yes…you bear the symbols of Tristain" "I am someone who will rescue Tabitha. Tell me what happened here" The butler, Percerine, explained the situation, they had kidnapped *Madame* whom Cog knew nothing, and Tabitha, the old man only knew where *Madame* was, at Alhambra castle. A week away by horse. "I doubt there are horses in the stables, right?" the butler nodded, so Cog went to the hole and whistled, Sylphid came flying down, and hovered over the hole "She's at Alhambra castle, a week away deep in Gallian territory. You might attract attention, and I don't need that if we want to save your sister. So I'll go by foot; go back and don't worry, it might take me a while, but I'll get…" Sylphid shook her head strongly "Sylphid: you have to trust me. Come on." She still shook her head "Fine; unless you can assume a smaller form I doubt we can do much about…" the next second, Sylphid became a busty, blue haired girl, which made the poor old butler have half a heart attack. "Now I can come too!" "Yes." Cog sighed.

Troop patrolling was heavy, more than once Cog had to actually knock them out physically, but this also had its own prizes. He had found a suit of armor which was his size, and wearing it, he was able to pass some of the checkpoints without trouble, and once he got his hand on one of the supply carts from the army of Gallia, he was set to go without problems at all, with Sylphid hidden among the chests and barrels, under a white sheet. –One may learn to hide well in the shadows, but to hide in plain sight, one needs skill- he thought, as another checkpoint was passed by with a simple smile and a hand wave. Alhambra castle was built as a border castle against the elven lands, next to it was an oasis with a small village. As they arrived in the morning, Cog left the cart on the outskirts of the village, and proceeded by foot with Sylphid "Now, listen. I'll gather info, you can stay at the inn, and tomorrow night we'll devise a plan" Sylphid nodded. The man was strong, she had seen him take care of a lot of bad soldiers without breaking a sweat, and without any weapon; there was nothing to fear –I'm coming to save you older sister!- she thought, as he took a room for her at "Father Joseph Desert doors" inn.

Cog had lied to Sylphid. He actually had decided to act that night; till then, he had begun walking around in the Gallian's army armor, and with a skill worthy of the best of poker faces, had joined a group of said guards in a drinking contest in another inn, more closer to the castle. "Another round for this rookie!" yelled one of the guards, as the rookie Cog took it with a bit of faked resistance "But I have to present myself to the commander! I can't go there drunk!" "Don't worry! You can go there one day later! Nothing to do apart guard two unarmed nobles!" Cog sighed and took the gallon of beer was soon emptied. "Hey rookie; I'm going to make you piss all that beer in your pants right now" Cog chuckled feigning being drunk "What is it? The castle has ghosts hic!" "No! It has elves ahaha!" "Ahaha! Nice one!" "I ain't joking"

Cog faked a really surprised look "Elves?" "One, he keeps to himself and guards the two nobles personally" "Hey, you think I'm still in time to be reassigned?" Cog asked with the fakest worry he could ever muster "No, no! Now you come with us right away!" and with that, he was actually brought by force inside the castle, where the commander looked at him inquisitively "Hey, where are you bringing that soldier?" "He volunteered for guard duty outside the nobles!" "Give him a medal!" the commander replied. Youngsters this day were quite rash, so close to that elf…

So that's how Cog got right outside the door of Tabitha and her mother. Only a wooden door was between him and them. That and obviously a fearsome *elf*. Saito and company, on the other hand, were still far away. The problem was that after something had attacked and dispersed some of the Gallians troop, the borders with Tristain had been even more secured. So they quite actually grinded to a halt "It's like they are expecting us!" Saito muttered "I'm sure it's Cog's fault" Louise replied, "I'm sure the Commander would have acted more stealthily" Guiche commented "Commander here, commander there, he's a stupid familiar, that's what he is" Louise was angry at the fact they might have to turn around and leave.

Cog's ears were ringing. Giving no worries to that, he knocked on the door. "Come in" came the voice from inside, it sounded like a male. Inside, a long, blond haired man was sitting at the table, his hands gently folded and his eyes slowly closed. There was another door, probably the place where Tabitha and her mother where. "You are not afraid" he commented. Cog kept his cool, "The worst enemies" "Are those without weapons" the two looked at each other, the elf opening his eyes, "You look like a barbarian, but you're different" the elf commented after a bit "You look like someone weak, but you're different" Cog replied, "Are you here for the girl?" "Yes" "I can't let you take her" "Are you stating the obvious?" with that question, Cog dashed forwards, a short sword in hand, but at the last moment he changed course, impacting against the wooden door; the elf hadn't expected the strange guy to give him his back, but he used it to his advantage, pieces of furniture came to life and flung themselves at Cog.

The door creaked and fell, and Tabitha, from inside the room, a book in her hands, looked at the source of the noise. A Gallian guard had dashed through, furniture attacking him with blunt force. "You two! Just a second" then Cog placed his feet on the ground, and assumed a strange fighting stance. As the first splinter of a dresser came through, Cog smashed it sideways with a fist. Soon table's legs followed, then the chair, but each of those was reduced to splinters, "Guards are going to arrive soon" the elf said "I want your name before I start breaking your bones" Cog replied, as with the last piece of furniture destroyed, an old painting, he had kept a splinter of wood like a makeshift stake. Or crude…wand?

"I am Bidashal, but you are no better than these barbarians, so I want to ask you this: what did you hope to achieve by coming alone?" Cog smiled "It was a test" "A test?" "To see" "See what?" Bidashal was starting to lose his patience, yet his curiosity was also peaked "Wherever my suppositions were correct about magic" "You haven't used any, and you certainly jest about using that as a wand" Bidashal gestured towards the wooden splinter. "I wanted to make sure of one thing, before" "I have no more time to waste with you! O ancient spirits…" as Bidashal said that, Cog launched the wooden splinter against Bidashal, but Counter, an ancient magic on the elf, deflected it, like having read in his mind, Cogs hand movement abruptly terminated on the ground near the elf. Smashing the pavement. Making Bidashal lose time and focus, as he had to quickly call for a flying spell to avoid plummeting down. "If I can't directly attack you" Cog replied with a smile "I can surely bluff you well", and then Bidashal dodged to the side, avoiding the falling of other pieces of stone, which effectively blocked his way back upwards.

"This is just temporary! There are over three hundred guards outside, there's no way he can make it" Bidashal just had to fly out from the nearest window, and as he did that, he rallied all the soldiers in castle to close the main gate. Then they waited, he had to pass by the courtyard, where the soldiers would certainly dispatch him, or the elf himself would.

"We are leaving through the front door" Cog said to Tabitha, "My mother can't leave…its dangerous" she replied looking over at the scared woman who was clinging to a doll "You won't take my daughter away." "I see, and then I'll open the way. You can use this as a wand?" he asked tightly gripping a piece of wood, until it deformed into a crude wand "Crude…can work" the girl replied, gripping it tightly. "Then follow my lead soldier and we're going to get out of here" Cog replied moving swiftly through the corridors, where a couple of guards were at the ready, swords in hand "No time!" he yelled charging straight through. At the last second, he jumped against the wall, and kicked on the head one of the two guards, and when the second thrust her sword at him, he used the palm of his hand to sweep it a bit aside, and then break her wrist. "Agh!" "To death and beyond!" with those words, Cog pierced right through the guards neck with his left hand, and then with a kick smashed against the wall the previous one who had staggered to get back on her feet.

"What is taking my men so long?" the commander in charge of the castle questioned the elf, like he knew something was going on "They were probably killed" "Why don't you go inside then?" "Because he might then manage to escape through you" "Are you saying that we, proud soldiers of the Gallian army, are weak!" "Yes" the commander didn't reply again, but muttered a –Damn elf-. Outside in the courtyard were a hundred and more men, surely they would be able to take on whoever had been so mad to attack them. The doors of the castle creaked, like if hit by something big, the soldiers nervously gulped, as another hit literally made some of the doors frame fly in the air, with another one, hinges started weakening. "The door is open, why is he…" that was when the commander realized some of his men were scared. It was all…"IT'S A TRI…" but his voice died in his throat, as the doors gave in to the strength banging against them, and the heads of soldiers from Gallia, followed by their bodies, started flying inside the courtyard.

Many had been gruesomely dismembered, others were still panting and crying tears of pain, even with their bowels ripped half out of their bodies. "It's the demon! The demon of Albion!" yelled a voice from within the castle, before a sharp shriek and a loud snap made that voice shut up. The commander looked around once more. The guards had run away. Only the elf had remained, with an amused face "A Shaitan? Here? I doubt it. He's smart however" "Then he's in your care!" with those words, the commander began running too. The gate which had been closed was open, the only obstacle was the elf "I take care of the elf, you run with your mother outside when I give the signal" Cog whispered to Tabitha, who shook her head "You saved me. My life is yours" "Good, but I don't need you dead." With a smile on his lips, he said "Then go back to your mother's side; if I don't come back it will mean I've lost" "I will wait then"

Cog exited the castle walking, the elf, Bidashal, looked at him with a frowned face "You sure are bloody, even for a barbarian; are you a Shaitan?" "I do not know the word's meaning" "Are you a demon?" "You could call me that" Cog replied as something like a vial, of a blue crystal like color, was held tightly in his right hand "What can you do to defeat me?" "You know, I realized something; the air of this world, is polluted" Bidashal was surprised "You can sense the Shaitan's pollution? You really must be a Shaitan then" "I can do better; I can give it a name: it's a psi-wave enhancer, either mark two or three." "What are you talking about Shaitan?" Bidashal now decided to take this fight seriously, he still had lingering doubts, but if this guy was a demon, he had to warn the others, no matter what. Maybe the gates recent activities where his fault to begin with?

"I am saying that a psi-wave enhancer can stimulate certain areas of the brain, to develop new cells with specific purposes: depending on the DNA of the creature in question, the effect may vary. Some over the course of centuries, evolve in specific ways to better use them, others become mutations" "What makes you think you are right?" "When I first arrived on this world, I had no problems thinking straight. Staying impartial. Then the waves started acting, I started doing things for the sake of doing them, saying things I had to keep secret, worrying for people who made me sick to watch, and the thoughts began changing themselves, and in the end, the nanites began revolting, because something was ticking them off, the final thing was seeing you use magic without wands, thus the wands weren't the answer to the question, something akin to you all had to be it; such as a psi-wave enhancer's presence" "You seem so certain of things I do not understand" Bidashal wasn't so close minded as others, who had the Shaitan's knowledge as a taboo, he actually was a researcher, and this information, straight from the source, would have to make sense sooner or later.

"It doesn't matter; just know that this" grabbing the vial with his hand, the vial he had taken from Truan 8, that same one he had fought against a Scortifex to get, "Would have killed me, had I drank this a year ago, when I first arrived on this world. Now, however…" and with those words, he emptied the vial in a single gulp. In that moment, a fist made of rock flung himself against the demon, but something repelled it. "Logic" Cog said. "Is powerful, it's the core of every machine, and since logic can be bent to make the true false, and vice versa, I say…*Counter*" the rock fist crumbled, and Bidashal looked at him, looked at the demon who had used ancient magic like it was a natural thing, and for a brief instant, he felt _fear_. "What gives strength to logic, is when it's applied with its bane; emotions. This is psychic course material, so I only covered the basic of it" Cog added again, "If I do not make mistakes, logic cannot be refined to its maximum and neither can only emotions, for they would both nullify each other" raising a hand, its palm open, a set of glyphs appeared of a dark, violet color "However, the more logic and emotions are tightly knitted together" the glyphs increased, and Bidashal took a step backwards.

"You get the point" with those final words a barrage of molten rocks erupted from the glyphs, taking the form of Tabitha's javelins, only with an increased destructive power, Bidashal's counter worked for most of the assault, but as the elf realized the barrier was about to dwindle away, he began flying upwards, behind him the walls of the castle were not charred; they were in rubble. "Cowards gain no fame, but they do live to see another day" Cog muttered, as a set of bright blue glyphs shone in front of his face, from there a single arrow of ice was launched with a speed unlike any others, its sole purpose was to strike. The counter magic of the elf was broken completely, but managed to stave off much of the damage the arrow would have inflicted, only wounding the side of the elf. "Shaitan…I must warn" the elf whispered as he increased his speed as much as he could.

Tabitha could feel steps coming her way, she was already with her wand in hand, prepared for the worst, but when Cog came through the door, she dropped her crude wand and looked at him in surprise "What? I won, you weren't betting on me? I'm feeling disappointed" he muttered as he extended his hand towards the blue haired girl with a broad smile, "No need to cry now…come on, we're getting out of here" and Tabitha, crying like a child, grabbed that hand.


	16. Chapter 16: Dwindling emotions

Chapter Sixteen

The sun was shining brightly as Saito and the others, disguised as a dancing circus, finally managed to get nearer to Alhambra. The patrols had made it all the more difficult, so only Kirche who had a way with men and Saito, who knew how to keep its cool, were doing the talking. After a bit, however, patrols simply stopped. As they were about two days from Alhambra, a shadow loomed over the group, and with a gust of wind, Sylphid descended down. On her back were Cog, Tabitha, and her sleeping mother.

"What are you doing here?" Cog asked while descending from Sylphid, and getting closer to the rest of the group. Saito got closer to him before saying

"You…you actually saved Tabitha alone?"

"Yes" Cog replied with a desperate sigh "And you came all the way here for what? A scolding from Henrietta when you get back?" he muttered again "Just why didn't you stay in Tristain? I took care of everything"

"Well, I was worried! How could I have known you had a plan actually!"

"Hey, it's me we are talking about"

Louise instead had silently got closer to Cog.

"Hey" she whispered

"Yes?"

"You're a horrible person" she commented.

"Good to know" Cog replied, nodding.

"So I've decided I don't care what you do or where, from now on I am not caring. Got it?"

"Understood"

"Good; if you ever bring Saito on the same road you are travelling, I am going to stop you, understood?" Louise looked serious, even if a bit emotionless. "Now we have to get back and receive her Highness judgment for having escaped. I hope you're happy with that"

Cog sighed and shook his head "I'll take all the blame, as I intended to do before"

"You were still my familiar then, so it's going to be my fault too"

"No, I'll take the blame"

"Hey! I helped them escape, it should be mine too" Saito interrupted them.

"Well, before deciding on who to give the blame…We should go to my family estate, Tabitha's mother would be safe there" Kirche said, getting closer to speak with Tabitha, who couldn't dismount Sylphid to avoid making her mother fall off.

"So, How did you manage it?" Kirche asked them curiously.

"Cog is strong" Tabitha replied.

"It wasn't that big of a problem; I knocked down a couple of border guards, as more were moved towards the borders, less stayed in the center, so as I took on an armor and a Gallian mantle, I managed to slip through without problems. They brought me in the castle, and there I freed Tabitha, and fought my way out to where I had left Sylphid" Cog replied with a shrug.

"You make it sound easy. How many guards where there?" Montmorency ask

"Didn't count them" Cog replied

"The Commander is strong; He tested the Ondine Guards who wanted to enter on a one on one fight, and it was utterly hard to even escape him" Guiche pointed out.

"Speaking of which: What are you doing here Guiche de Gramont? The vice commander ordered you?" Guiche froze when the question was asked;

"Well, actually…."

"He was following my orders" Saito said.

"Fine then" Cog replied. Truth was Guiche had followed because of Montmorency, but the Commander would have probably flailed him alive had he known. Guiche mentally noted to thank Saito afterwards; they were still in Gallian territory for the moment.

"Well, let's go towards Miss Zerbst's house for the moment, we will speak about unimportant stuff once outside of a danger zone" Cog replied. Louise puffed her cheeks at him giving orders, but since it was what everyone wanted to do, nobody said anything, so they marched towards the border for Germania, and from there reached the Zerbst estate.

"Cog, listen, I've got to ask you: why are we running towards the estate?" Saito had a big rock on his bag, like always, and Guiche too;

"Because training as much as possible is key to maintain form" Cog replied running alongside those two, two rocks on his back.

"Now, as I was saying…Who are we!"

"The Ondine Guards!" yelled Saito and Guiche.

"Those idiots" muttered Louise under her breath, as she was left on the cart with Montmorency.

"Cog is strong" Tabitha muttered from the back of the cart, as Sylphid wasn't as comfortable as a cart, for her mother, and she didn't want to leave her side.

"Then why don't you make him your familiar?"

"I would" Tabitha replied left Louise shocked.

"He's the half-brother of the queen, you know?"

"Yes"

-Everyone is getting stupider staying close to him- Louise thought.

Kirche's house was made of a variety of styles, and since it was a chance to sleep in a bed for once, nobody wanted to pass on that, especially Saito, who tired had slumbered into the bed immediately. He actually dreamt very little; many times it was about slurred images, of things long past. Other times it was nightmares; of people he killed and people he loved turning their back on him. In the midst of fires too tall to be normal, he could see skyscrapers crumble to the ground, as a menacing darkness cracked and bubbled, expanding on the underground, breaking the asphalt, tearing apart the charred remains of what once were living beings, and then throw its tendrils at him. He woke up with a sharp gasp, panting heavily, his clothes drenched with sweat. Next to him laid the sleeping form of Louise, when did she get into the bed? Wasn't their marriage a make belief? She said so, didn't she? Maybe she simply wasn't honest with herself; like he wasn't being honest with himself. He had moved to go after Cog not because he valued Tabitha, sure, she was a friend, but he wouldn't have moved so abruptly for her alone. No, the reason was clear in his mind. He looked at Cog like someone to aspire to, sure of himself, without faults, without weaknesses, capable of doing everything and anything; in his eyes, he was what he had to become to protect those dear to him, especially Louise.

"Why also Louise?" he whispered to himself looking at her sleeping face, "Maybe because she wouldn't be able to do anything without me" he replied again to himself, caressing her hair for a second, but as she began mumbling in her sleep, he stood up and left towards the outer garden of the mansion. If you have time, you should train.

Saito plunged Derflinger into the ground, in front of him, and then asked "So, five minutes to learn something new"

"Aye partner! That black Shaitan sure knows his stuff; listen to the legendary Derf!"

"Shaitan?" Saito asked inquisitively

"An old word for demon"

"So that's the new thing I learned today; well, this was quick"

"Yeah, so?"

"So I think we can start training stamina"

"But partner! I have so many interesting things to…" But Saito made Derflinger shut up, he had to train now. Speaking could come at a later time. He began running around the mansion, one lap, two laps, and three laps; then he was reached by Guiche, who started running together with him.

Cog in the meantime was concentrating, on top of the mansions' roof, which he had climbed early; he was resting his back against a chimney, whose warmth would have been scorching for many, but not for him. He was humming, trying to recollect some stray thoughts around; with the knowledge of a psi-wave enhancer on this world many other things had to follow: a generator, probably solar, since a nuclear one would have stopped working in the thousands of year of this world's history, an alternator, a defense mechanism, "Thousands of years ago…was it the war on the Myr?" he muttered, without Nanites he had no hope to access the inner Chronos, he could only go by his own recollection.

"Doesn't look like them…the traslation?" traslation technology had been unstable for the majority of the first thousand years since discovery: because it could only work from point A to point B, if one of the two points ended destroyed then those travelling through would have been lost in the traslation stream.

"History speaks nothing of the sort…" history was flawed, as always;

"Then legends?" none give more than a glimpse.

"Founder Brimir?" it's not a registered codename, last I recall.

"Guide my hand, for I'm lost; hope lies where in this rotten world?" he whispered again "speaking alone isn't going to work, is it?"

"I doubt"

"Well, get back to thinking then…empty the mind" empty the soul and empty the emotions;

"Wait." Cog opened his eyes, "Start from the beginning: Truan 8, traslated here through magic. The ritual was meant to bring one, it brought two; here there is a sister…Something is not right, there can't be sheer chance, psi-wave enhancer added to the equation, the void is considered legendary…wait a minute" every element had its own purpose, except void, who was able to create illusions and explosions, what did they all have in common? "Holographs are made through the use of light refractions; explosions are usually generated by movement of heat and energy. Heat and energy are to light refractions, what something is to both…" what? What did they both have in common? Energy? Nuclear energy? Nucleus? Atom! "The atom! For the love of the Original, it's the atoms" Void was the magic of the atoms, or, better yet, it was electricity, which was the movement of Electrons.

"So how did I end up here?" he whispered, there could only be one answer: when the girl had called forth a familiar, something on the planet had overwritten her commands to grab someone else, someone close by, so, probably, that someone could come and…

"Someone needs my help it seems"

"No" the voice replied from his back turned out to be Tabitha, it seemed she had crept up helped by Sylphid, as Cog had been lost in thoughts:

"Oh. Since when have you been listening?"

"Original and atoms" not much;

"Why did you say no?"

"I don't need help now"

"Oh. No, I was speaking about something else" Tabitha got closer and sat next to him; book in hand, Sylphid was looming over them, making strange gestures with her head.

"Whatever happens, my life is yours" Tabitha whispered again, Cog made a strained smile

"Yes, I understand, you repeated it quite a lot, there's no need to worry though" he replied, "By the way, you up for becoming an Ondine Guard now?" Tabitha nodded, "Good girl" and then patted her on the head, twice. The blue haired girl simply took to reading her book in silence, pressing it near her face, hiding her blushing.

Saito had finished running, when he intercepted the messenger with a message for Louise, he took the letter and opened it; he finally knew how to read thanks to Cog's teachings, so after careful pondering on the content of the letter, he spoke to Guiche, who was next to him:

"Seems like the Commander is in for a lot of pain"

"Why, Vice Commander?"

"The letter says the Queen will pass her judgment at the La Vallière Estate"

"Why there?"

"His fiancé suggested that"

"Ouch" then both the boys entered the mansion, to round up everyone and mention the letter's content. "So, where's Cog?" Louise asked;

"Well, I couldn't find him"

"Nor Tabitha" Guiche added then, with a perplexed look.

"We were on the roof" commented a voice from the window, which opened to let Cog enter from there "I have to stop entering from windows" he stated with a small laughter. Tabitha was behind him on Sylphid's back.

"What were you two doing?" Louise asked inquisitively.

"Well, I did say I'd have her enter the Ondine Guards, so we were speaking about that"

"On the roof?" Louise asked again.

"Well, I was on the roof to begin with" Cog shrugged.

"I see" Louise didn't flinch, but something in her mind kept telling her to bash him up with something.

The letter's content, except who it had actually been sent to, was delivered by Saito, "So we have to go" Saito added.

"Though I'm probably going to die" Louise whispered shivering.

"Why would you say that?"

"I broke the rules"

"Like everyone else in here" Montmorency added.

"Well, yes, but I broke the house rules"

"What's the problem? Your father is going to punish you?"

"No, worst; my mother". Then she simply kept shivering, as the carriage was prepared and everyone, except Tabitha's mother, went towards the La Vallière estate, which was also the closest one past the border of Germania. It seemed the antipathy between the two houses of Zerbst and La Vallière was due to someone leaving one house and marrying into the other, or things like that.

"Cog is on the carriage roof?" Louise asked Saito, who had been looking out of the window for a while, "Yes, well, we are a bit tight in here even without him" considering the carriage had Kirche, Guiche, Montmorency and Louise inside, while the room was for four only, so Saito was in a corner, while Guiche and Montmorency were cramped one against the other, professor Colbert was the one riding the carriage.

"I ain't complaining" Guiche stated, before going "Ouch" as Montmorency had punched him in the leg. "Tabitha should be flying with Sylphid near us" Saito added.

"We could have gone with Sylphid" Kirche pouted: "It would have been faster"

"Cog said something about avoiding straining the dragon too much with all of us" Saito replied.

"Yeah, and what Cog says is law right?" Louise pouted back.

"If he's right nearly every time, then it's obvious" Saito replied back.

"Yeah! We're in this mess because of him, and you still defend him!" Louise snapped back.

"Well, we chose this to help Tabitha, so it's everyone's fault; not only Cog's"

The travel went by in a nervous silence, as tension filled the air. Once the Vallière estate was in view, however, something made the carriage shoot forward into the air, and as Montmorency screamed Guiche grabbed her, and lunged outside the carriage, while Saito did the same with Louise and Kirche on the other side. As they both landed on the grass patch alongside the road, a masked womanly figure stood on the road, wand in her hand, Cog was already there, whistling with a happy tune. Saito stood up; grabbing Derflinger, but Louise grabbed him tightly and started sobbing.

"Louise?" Saito asked perplexed at such a change of heart.

"…she's going to kill him, and then me, and then you."

"Who is she?"

"My mother!"

As Louise said that, the masked woman stated:

"So, Cog de la Lily, you sure you want to fight Karin of the Heavy Wind?" to which Cog simply placed his right leg behind his left one, raising his left hand and moving it, like stating "Please come".

Karin started chanting with her wand, but Cog didn't move, when the tornado spell launched itself forward, Cog laughed "Are tornadoes all you people can think!" he exclaimed.

"That's a cutter tornado, if he gets too close he's going to get badly hurt" Derflinger muttered, to which Saito pushed Louise away from his arm.

"I have to go and help him!" before running, sword in hand, against the tornado.

"Hey boy, hey, wait!" Cog yelled at Saito, who didn't stop until his sword was pushed backwards from the tornado, and wind blades cut deeply through his body and arms.

"The will of the strong, is the strength of the weak" Cog muttered as his left hand moved in a downward motion, and then to the right. Saito's body moved itself on its own, leaving the tornado to move on its intended path.

"What…Derflinger, you used control?" Saito asked in shock, albeit breathing hardly for the wounds which Montmorency, however, was healing.

"No partner, Cog did"

"Wait, how?" The tornado didn't care about such sophisms, so, without being stopped any longer it increased its pace towards Cog, who didn't seem to take a care in the world about dodging it.

The tornado clashed against him and dissipated into nothingness.

"What?" was the general sentiment of the people who saw the scene unfold; without a single scratch, Cog simply yawned, and started walking towards Karin, who, without a moment's rest, began chanting again. The second tornado met the same fate of the first one; also the third did, and finally, as Karin's willpower began to dwindle down, she started chanting quicker, but weaker, wind blades, which however had no effect whatsoever on Cog.

"Seems like it's my win, Madame de la Vallière" Cog stated, standing right in front of a panting Karin.

"I must…admit; never before I have met someone who could counter all my spells with such ease…"

"I am sure you have questions, but those can wait until we reach the mansion: is the Queen…" but Cog didn't need to finish the sentence, as Henrietta had just arrived by horse, with Agnes behind her, and had descended hurriedly, composing herself only at the last moment, once near both Karin and Cog.

"What…what happened?"

"Your highness" Karin said kneeling down, "I enacted punishment, or at least tried to, on my daughter for breaking the laws; Chevalier Cog de la Lily easily defended her, however: he is by reason your Imperial guard commander"

"Don't you know that it makes Founder Brimir cry when parents raise their wands against their children? My!" Henrietta pouted, before finishing patching up Saito, since Montmorency had fainted before finishing mending all his wounds.

Later that night, the Queen began speaking about the void; the Duke was there with the Duchess, back in her usual attire, and while Cattleya was sitting on a chair, on one sofa were Louise and Saito, and on the other were Eleonore and Cog, albeit Eleonore was doing her best not to look at Cog in the face; with a pouting face however she sometimes glared at him.

"The void is just a legend, I mean…it disappeared from history a long time ago" the duke said, with a pale face.

"I would have found it hard to believe too; but I already knew from a long time: Cog spoke of it the first time" she said, and as every stare moved towards Cog, he started whistling a tune looking around.

"What? I *did* have to get permission to have Louise in the war of Albion, didn't I?"

Eleonore dashed at him with a slap but her hand didn't get near, as something like a violet shield, invisible, yet present, glared for a second and made her hand bounce off.

"What is this?" Eleonore said in shock.  
"You call it ancient magic, I believe" Cog replied shrugging. "I call it Psych shield, but it's the same" with a snap of his fingers, the shield dispersed.

"Ancient magic…like that of the elves?" Henrietta fainted for a moment, and Agnes moved to grab her before she hurt herself falling.

"Yes." Cog nodded.

"Fine, there is too much for one night" the duke muttered starting to walk in a line and every now and then turning, holding his mustache.

"I'm afraid it's not over" Cog replied with a small smile.

"What? What is it?" Eleonore snapped again.

"Well, that thing over there, to begin with" as he said that, he pointed to a small box which Agnes had left on the top of a drawer.

"It's a box" Eleonore replied.

"You wear glasses to state the obvious?" Cog replied with a small laughter.

Eleonore was about to snap again, but this time she stopped, as Henrietta came back to her senses.

"Your highness, everything is fine?" Karin asked slowly.

"Oh…yes, I just…well, never mind" Henrietta replied standing back up, and asking something to Agnes in a whisper, who nodded and went to grab the box.

"Now, for Louise's punishment." She said grabbing the content from the box, which turned out to be a mantle.

"With this mantle Louise will become a successor to the throne of Tristain, third in line, actually; but Cog has reasons not to wish to rule, so…"

Louise's color left her face, as the mantle was appointed on her back.

"Your highness" the duke said as Louise was receiving the mantle "I must ask if you knew what Void power is, and if…believing to your half-brother's words, you knew while using it in the last war, and if so, what you want to do with it" his look was sterner as he spoke.

"I do not know right now. I must reflect on it deeply" Henrietta replied.

"My daughter is not a *weapon* she is not a cannon ball, nor an arrow, if she will be treated as such…" the duke threating said, "then I will cast aside my mantle of protector of the reign and cross wands with you, your highness".

This scene made Saito feel something, inside, a pain, it was only the gist of a moment, but it was so sharp it made him wish to leave the room and run towards…something. It didn't last long, and soon it was but a fleeting memory.

Agnes had her hand already on the sword, but Henrietta stopped her.

"I want to use Louise's power for something right, yet I myself know not what would be the best use: that is why I wish to have people I can trust nearby." Henrietta bowed her head once, before adding "I will not use Louise as a weapon."

Cog kept his mouth shut. Sure, he could have stated how she had already been used as a weapon, but in this occasion, it was better to simply keep his mouth shut. There would have been too many hassles to deal with, and he wasn't up for that.

"A mind that cannot believe in herself is the best one to guide a country towards a bright future…" to these words, however, Cog snapped.

"Hey." He muttered, the point wasn't the word, it was the *tone* of the word. Karin's hand had gone to her wand in less than a second, seeing how the blood thirst was something she had felt countless time on the battlefield.

"Say that again" he replied, his sharp gaze on the Duke was enough to make Louise whimper.

"I…" the duke stammered under the pressure of that stare.

"I say that you need to be more careful with your words" Cog stated. "Because, one who commands cannot be troubled by petty thoughts or riddled with doubts. You either Know, or you Know not. I was hoping you would have pointed it out. It seems I will have to."

Henrietta gasped as Karin took out her wand pointing it at Cog.

"Another tornado, Karin? You'd harm everyone in the room." He said before snapping his fingers once. A crack was heard and Karin's wand broke up in a thousand splinters. The look on everyone face was priceless. "Now tell me: I can probably destroy this entire mansion in the blink of an eye, yet I do not. Why? Is it because I'm doubting what to do? No. It's because I know what to do and what not to do. There is no doubt in my actions, you got that?" he asked the duke, who was paralyzed by fear.

"Now, listen up: you may have your opinions, nobody prohibits that, you can even give advice in good faith, that much I understand, but at least, realize when you're wrong"

"Cog, maybe you should calm down…" Saito said mimicking with his hands a *stand down* motion.

"Fine." With a sigh, Cog waved his hand, and Karin's wand repaired itself back to its former form.

"Some dinner should be prepared" Karin muttered shocked, before leaving the room in a hurry, followed by the duke, and the elder sisters, and Louise, who had gone to call everyone else.

As soon as the door closed, Henrietta looked at Cog, who looked back in a calm way:

"What?"

"You…"

"I?"

"You stupid idiotic brother of mine!" She yelled as she started slapping him on the face, "You made me so worried! And the first thing you do is enter a fight with the duke!" *another slap* "Just what passes through your brain!" *another slap*. Agnes shook her head with a sigh at the scene, mimicked by Saito.

Cog on the other hand was simply laughing without even trying to defend himself.

"Your highness" Agnes coughed after a moment and Henrietta stopped.

"Oh…yes." She took another mantle from the box, handing it over to Saito "You are reinstated as Vice-Commander of the imperial guards. Please, take care of my stupid brother"

"Yes, your highness" Saito replied, bowing.

As they all left, Saito got a bit lost, walking down the mansion, more like, he didn't feel hungry. Something inside him was tearing to come out. In a dark corridor he sat down, looking out of the window at the moons in the sky. Louise's dad had done his best to defend his daughter. Louise's mother had clearly been worried about her.

Cog had barged against the duke, when it had questioned the Queen, and it wasn't the first time he had done so for his sister.

Saito on the other hand had no-one. He was alone, in a stranger's world. He didn't know why, but something was bugging him. Something was telling him that there was someone waiting for him, somewhere. "What is it? What am I forgetting?" he muttered as, without realizing it, tears had begun to run down his cheeks.

"Home sickness?" Cog's voice shook him off from the dark corner he was in, "Gloomy corner all right, place for another stranded?" he said, as he sat down next to him with a smile.

"Home sickness? No, I mean…there is…" he staggered; he couldn't even recall his home.

"Something the problem?" Cog asked him worriedly.

"I…can't recall home. My parents…their faces" Saito looked at his trembling hands.

Cog grabbed his head and stared deeply into his eyes, then grabbed the Gandalfr's runes.

"The runes huh" he whispered.

"What is the problem with the runes?"

"They have meanings, every single one of them have a meaning"

"What do you mean?"

"I had warned you not to take the runes again, but you didn't listen to me, did you?"

Saito hadn't. Once he had met Louise again, that night, they had redone the Gandalfr's runes, albeit Derflinger had said it would be dangerous; Cog had slapped him hard twice, after seeing that and had refused to have anything to do with the familiar system ever again.

"So what?" Saito didn't understand, but his voice was cringing inside.

"So, I didn't consider them much, but…the runes are the cause of you forgetting"

"What? Why?"

"A Gandalfr is a shield and a spear, it protect its master, it's no different from the first clones of Baltimore nine"

"What are you saying?"

Cog sighed "in the beginning, Baltimore nine was a research facility, it later developed into a clone-factory, it was meant to produce organs to be then mass-harvested and supplied to soldiers"

Saito's face became pale at the thought. "Obviously once the *First understanding* took place, it was repurposed, and became a Soldier production facility. However the first batch of soldiers were mindless: they had no self-preservation; they were genetically engineered to believe whoever they saw as they opened their eyes was their father, mother, god, chief, commander or whatever: they fought for him, they died for him, and they obeyed without flinching to him"

"That's…inhumane" Saito muttered back.

"It's the past, no matter how bloody it is; it must be remembered and never forgotten. So, this is the same. You have been printed with mind altering psi waves; or magic, if you want to call it that."

"So…what can I do?"

"There *is* a way. However, I must ask you: do you want to keep your Gandalfr's power, or not?"

"Partner, no matter what, I'll stay with you, you know" Derflinger said, rising up from his scabbard.

"I…I just want to recall my family faces" Saito replied.

"Then stand still, for I have only done basic course, and last I recall it was advanced course material, the mind altering psi waves" –and I'm even without a Chronos!- as that was the last random thought of Cog, glyphs began appearing all around Saito's head, and then he was engulfed in a violet-purplish light.


	17. Chapter 17: Acting on their own

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning in the la Vallière house marked the disappearance of both Saito and Cog. A letter was left, stating they had proceeded to go back to the academy, since they had work to do. Tabitha had gone with them, by using Sylphid.

The new term at the academy started without fuss, albeit the disappearance of Saito and Cog was felt, the Ondine guards seemed to have received orders not to speak about their location. No matter how much Louise had pouted and bugged them, they had kept to their "No comments".

Not even Kirche had managed to pry anything from one of them, nor the worries of Colbert or of Headmaster Osman. The two chevaliers simply seemed having disappeared into thin air.

The only thing that remained was the nanites block, which had proven too heavy to lift or move, yet had not destroyed the balcony on which it had laid still for a couple of months as of that time at the Sleipnir ball.

"Those damn idiots; not even with the royal symbol from the queen did they dare to speak. Like hell I believe they know nothing" Louise muttered, cursing the lot, especially the Vice Commander Guiche, "Do you think they left for good?" she asked to the Siesta, the maid, who was serving her tea.

"I do not know Miss Vallière, but I am sure they will come back. I have trust in Saito"

"Good for you then" Louise snapped back.

"I'm sure there is a good reason for his actions" Siesta carefully added then.

"Yeah? I'm sure he's just following Cog blindly, as always!" Louise yelled, throwing the cup on the floor.

"I'm going to make him pay! Once he ends up in my hands I'm going to tear him to pieces!" and with those words, Louise asked for another cup of tea.

"You fine?" Cog asked Saito, as they were making their way back to Westwood village, not easy when you have to take into account that they had to act in silence; without Chevalier's badges or mantles.

"Yes; now tell me again, how does this help us?" Saito had this sort of angry tone to his voice, after that night, when he had realized many of his feelings had been lies, and having cried himself to sleep, he had woken up strapped to Sylphid with Cog explaining to him what they were going to do; however he had understood very little.

"Well" Cog said as he pushed aside the crowd of people who was descending from one of the cruise ships from Tristain to Albion, "First off we must take into consideration what the enemy wants, then we must snatch it away."

"So, why in Albion?"

"The enemy asked for a single port, never cared why?"

"Well, no."

"Because it needed something from here obviously, and it is now coming to take it, since it didn't manage to grab Louise, it should now aim at the weakest one"

"Which is?"

"I'll explain once we get ourselves some horses" with those words, Cog exited the city, without giving much of a thought at stables.

"Stables were that way" Saito pointed out, running to keep Cog's stead.

"Yeah, but we are not paying for horses" as Cog said that, he kept on moving.

"You aren't planning to steal them, are you?" Saito questioned worriedly.

"No." the fact he replied with a shrug and a smile didn't make it any better for Saito "Though for the moment, we run boy. You're no longer a Gandalfr; this doesn't mean I can't make you better than one"

"Aye boy! Let's get the show rolling!" Derflinger matter of fact stated as Saito sighed.

Cog's plan had been not to steal horses, but to retake some from bandits, who, seeing two lonely persons walking at night had thought them weak enough to be robbed. Saito, albeit without Gandalfr's runes, had already received a harsh training and knew how to fight. Against two opponents, he did his best to position one in front of the other, so he could pierce at the first without worrying about the second attacking him. On the other hand Cog fought weaponless, proving that hand to hand combat was his specialty, as Saito could distinctively feel necks cracking and heads popping.

"I would have puked some time ago, seeing this slaughter" Saito muttered, looking at the dead bodies. Colbert's words hit him then, something had definitively broken in him, what was it?

"Innocence lost cannot be regained boy" Cog replied, grabbing a water-skin from one of the bandits, and handing another to Saito.

"Should be clean water, drink and don't worry; their horses should be nearby. If we sell those in excess, we can actually make a profit out of it."

"You were born for this, weren't you?" Saito asked him, as he gulped down some water to quench his thirst, "You must be used to this, right?" he added then.

"Yes, it's not the first time I have to do things like this. Undercover missions are a must." Cog replied, looking around for a bit, and then heading towards a hill nearby the place they had been ambushed.

"And behind hill number one, a bandit camp and some horses!" Cog exclaimed as he reached the top of the hill, and looked at a small camp fire, hidden behind some thick furs held up by crossed sticks, and three horses, since there had been six bandits.

With horses, their voyage was now much shorter. "What if we hadn't found horses?" Saito asked Cog one night, as they camped.

"Well, I'd have us run all the way"

"But it would have been a week away!"

"So? It would have still been…"

"Training"

"If you know the answer, why do you ask then?" Cog replied, as he pushed a wooden log into the camp fire.

"So, why are we going to take Tiffania from Westwood? Didn't she ask to be left in peace?" Saito asked.

"Because someone will aim at her, since she *is* a user of the void"

"But why? I mean, how could they know?"

"The traffic of information works in a way which anyone can understand, Saito: a guy tells another. She's been healing a lot of person who got lost in the wood, and then erasing their memories. Myoz was a familiar of the void, because she clearly wasn't a mage."

"Wait, Tiffania erases memories? What? The woman who tried to kidnap Louise was a familiar?"

"You didn't realize it? I wasn't even there in person, but had she been a noble she would have used magic, right?"

"…Yes, go on"

"So, it's easy to suppose something strange is going on in Westwood, and, as long as they have a port, they have no problems sending people to actually investigate it; and if they are looking for the void element."

"They would send a Void familiar" Saito replied.

"So we know that Myoz is certainly looking for Tiffania, but she doesn't know where she is"

"It's just a matter of time actually. She can send golems around and flying scouts. When you have enough reconnaissance power available, it's always just a matter of time" with those words, Cog remained silent, watching the fire slowly eating away at the wooden log.

"Hey Cog" Saito asked after a while.

"What is it?"

"Do you think my parents would hate me, if they knew what I have become?"

"No parent worthy of that name hates its children; trust me, I've got two idiots to take care of, and three who keep being a hassle never the less" Cog replied with a chuckle.

"What?" Saito's eyes bulged.

"What?" Cog replied mimicking him "I'm old boy, you think I'd spend all my time not doing anything but fighting and killing? Sheesh! Two hundred and thirty five years and not a child would be strange, wouldn't it? Have some confidence in my charms!" with those words Cog laughed a bit and then shook his head.

"My two idiots are both assigned to dangerous near the border with the Nerghulian outposts. One is a fleet commander, fourth class; the other is a Psychic third class, the three hassles are, last I recall, an Eighth class soldier, Fifth class Animal, and a first Class Sniper"

"You have a family" Saito muttered, perplexed.

"Yes I do, you look surprised boy" Cog replied with a grin.

"So…why did you accept being Louise's elder sister's fiancé?"

"Well, I am also a three time Widower" Cog sighed.

With those last words, Saito kept silent, and the night went on.

The Romalian pope sent a letter, warning he would visit the castle of Tristain in two days. He actually presented himself the next day, since surprise visits are hardly surprises if you the time someone is coming.

Henrietta had worries on her face all written over, so when they both met in the garden, she strained a smile, the pope wore the usual dark purple robes, with a high cylindrical hat:

"Your holiness, I am sorry we couldn't prepare something better; we didn't have enough time…"

"It does not matter, Miss Henrietta, but please, call me Vittorio" the pope replied with a heartwarming smile.

"That is gracious of you; however I must ask, what is the reason of your visit?"

"Well, I have heard tales of a demon, summoned in a magic academy, who then strangely disappeared; in his stead the long lost half-brother of the queen has appeared…I wouldn't have thought King Philip the Great to ever be unfaithful to the queen Marianne"

"It's...you certainly are not doubting Tristain's faith to founder Brimir?" Henrietta was shocked, however a feeling crept inside of her…was founder Brimir really a religion worth the cost?

"No, I am sure Tristain's faith is solid, I have not come here for that; however those are the words which reached my ears, of a demon who's whispering honeyed words to the ear of the queen, making her straying from her path"

"That is…that's unjustified! Cog is not a demon!" Henrietta snapped back with a slight feeling of anger.

"So it's true: the Chevalier and the demon are the same person" the pope replied with a smile.

"He…he is not a demon. He appeared like that because of…his armor" Henrietta said.

"Miss Henrietta, I might not look like it, but I know when someone is not telling me all the truth" the pope replied.

"Well…he made me promise not to speak of it" Henrietta replied fiddling with her fingers.

"I see, promises should be kept; however I advise caution, founder Brimir warned of demons and their ability to creep inside even the holiest of souls"

"I will take heed of your warnings, Vittorio" the queen replied nodding. –If only the pope knew-

"There is another matter, actually" The Pope said while starting to walk in the courtyard, as Henrietta followed, he began speaking again.

"When war is waged, I find it as a blasphemy to God; that is why, to stop war, a great power is needed."

"Power corrupts…my mother taught me that" Henrietta replied

"I understand, however, how many wars have been waged, and how many more will still be waged? Something is needed to band us all together: retaking the holy lands from the elves" Henrietta stopped at the pope's words.

"But the elves know ancient magic!"

"That is why the void is needed: with it we could bargain, not fight, but certainly bargain" the pope replied, to which Henrietta began thinking. –Maybe I should ask Cog…- the thought crossed her mind then: she could ask Cog. He had managed to reach deep within the Gallian border, and knew how to use ancient magic, he was older than her and with more military experience. He would know what to do or know how to win; when someone managed to reach him, she would have the rule of all of Halkeginia, since if someone were to oppose her people like Cog would make them understand...

-If I think about it…no! Power corrupts, no- she thought.

"I must think about it"

"I understand; however we will need allies for another problem" and as the Pope sighed, he began explaining the Gallian problem.

"There's the house!" Saito exclaimed, as they had dismounted from their horses after reaching the village, since Tiffania's house was a bit astray the village.

"Oh you have your way in announcing a presence huh" Cog muttered tying the horse to a tree and then opening the door.

"Cog, you're blocking the door" Saito muttered.

"Yes. I know." Cog replied, before entering slowly.

As Saito entered, his hand went to the handle of Derflinger, Cog had made a back handed sign of warning, so he prepared himself. Inside Tiffania was sitting at the table, looking at both of them entering; the other person sitting with Tiffania was…

"Fouquet!" Saito exclaimed.

"Saito?" Tiffania asked perplexed as Fouquet herself stood up from her chair, wand in hand. They both stared at each other, like wolves waiting for a chance to strike.

Cog coughed however.

"Please, you're making the girl worried; just sit down would you?" Tiffania looked at Cog with a hint of hope, and then she added "Yes, please! Stop this act now Saito, elder sister Mathilde!" she pleaded.

They all sat down at the table, and as more tea was served, Fouquet stared with some curiosity at Cog, he looked familiar to her. "How do you know each other?" Tiffania asked to which Saito's tea nearly lodged himself in his throat.

"Work" Cog replied with a smile.

"You know what Mathilde work is?" Tiffania's eyes were those of a curious cat.

"Teaching! It's teaching!" Mathilde muttered staring at Cog, who, however, smiled back warmly.

"She's a treasure hunter, whose last expedition was in La Rochelle, right?"

"How do you know?" Fouquet asked in surprise, looking at the man, unsure if she had ever met him before.

"You should recall me with claws and a bit darker" Cog replied again.

"The demon!" as Mathilde exclaimed surprised, Saito explained to Tiffania.

"Cog masqueraded as a demon for some time, so that's why your sister didn't recognize him"

"You! What is your business with my sister!" a bit enraged, even, Mathilde yelled at Cog, raising her wand again.

"She is in danger here: I'm intentioned to bring her to Tristain" Cog replied, drinking his tea with ease.

"You!" Mathilde gritted her teethes.

"She certainly would like to see new places" Cog added again.

"But I can't leave the children of the village alone" Tiffania replied.

"They can come too, I'm pretty sure they can all be accommodated, fed, taught and once of age they could even be trained to enter the Imperial guards" Cog replied with an astonishing tranquility. It was like it had already been set in stone. Saito didn't know where the bluff ended and where the truth began.

"Tools for war? You want to make them tools for way?" Mathilde replied with a gasp.

"No: However with an education they could aspire to become something better and those who wish could try and enter the Imperial guards" Cog replied.

"I…" Tiffania was at a loss of words, looking towards Mathilde, who gripped her wand tightly.

Cog stared at her too, "If something happens to her…"she began saying, to which Cog nodded, while muttering "Do not worry; since she is a mage she will be educated at Tristain's magic academy, and the Imperial Guards headquarters and barracks are there too. Furthermore, and most importantly, I will be there too"

Mathilde sighed "Fine then. You can go" and as she said that, Tiffania went to hug Mathilde happily.

"If I find out she's been badly treated" Mathilde whispered towards Cog, who simply smiled back. Saito watched the scene with a saddened look on his face, but was shook off those thoughts by a small punch on the side of the shoulder by Cog, to which he replied with a small smile.

"We depart tomorrow. Saito, round up the kids, I'll go look for a couple of horses" with a nod, Saito went his way, and Cog his.

*Elsewhere*

"Two weeks" Louise muttered.

"Two weeks and two days" Siesta corrected.

"Then, when they come back, I'll throw them off the tower personally, thrice"

"I'll prepare the rope" with those words, Siesta left the room again.

*Elsewhere*

"We have friendly signals inbound!" one of the radar operators yelled.

"Move alert level up to Grey!" another one ordered, and soon people were mobilized all around the Net station, which had been stable, in orbit around…nothing. There was nothing there. The AI had dully noted the presence of a gravity well, in which it had nested the station, but no planet, nor the moons, which certainly the planet had to have, after some calculation, where in sight.

The net station was not provided with high range scanners, nor could pick up anything further away than a click or two, which was useless; Net stations were databases, enormous database of information, they were antennae's and repeaters, but had not much military equipment. That's why a fleet had been called in to provide support and, considering the lack of answers from the Ai of the dispersed Commander of Genocide, a cleansing fleet had been the first choice.

Next to the Net station, which was something far more than a colossal undertaking, the cleansing fleet appeared. With shades of dark green and grey, a default cleansing fleet had three to five interceptors, four carriers, two bio-purgers, and ten to twelve cruisers. It also had high level stealth detection radars.

"Cleansing Fleet Omega XVIII reporting for duty" the radio signal was processed through the entirety of the station, towards the command room, where the long violet haired woman was waiting in front of a console, together with a couple of other Soldiers, of those, only one was actually next to her, the others were two steps behind.

The console beeped, and a figure appeared on the screen, it had short, brown hair, with hazel eyes and a strikingly menacing glare. "So, you actually called my fleet all the way here for Father?" the man nearly spat at the screen.

"I did not choose your fleet; the Original deemed it was the most suited." The woman replied.

"I'm sure it's another of father's tests. Like always he'll then grade us and give you the perfect score."

"Are you really using official channels for this?" the woman replied raising an eyebrow.

"What if I am? I'm still doing the work in the end. I need access to the Net station processing power to begin, the sooner I finish the sooner I can return"

"How is it going in the border zone?" the soldier next to the woman queried

"Minefields are holding, but it's actually a dogfight between them, the Nerghulians and the asteroids"

"Casualties?" the soldier queried again.

"Why do you even care?" the man replied with a snap, but once the connection was established, the fleet's sensors began working.

"You do sound angry" the violet haired woman stated.

"I lost three ships, four hundred thirty two men and women; want their names?"

"No, I'm sure you memorized them…" the woman replied.

After a minute of silence, a ping was heard.

"Wait. This is…"

A biological alert appeared on the screen: Red skull, with yellow half crescent moons.

*Elsewhere again*

The kids were a silent bunch. They already knew Saito and Cog since the time Tiffania had healed them both, furthermore the thought of leaving their run down houses for a chance at a better place was thrilling but also nerve wracking. The voyage was thus easy enough for Saito to doze off more than once. He kept thinking positively, however, -I'm doing great things. I am no longer Gandalfr, but still I help people. Louise you can go on ranting and calling me dog and useless, but I'm neither first nor the latter.-

"Saito!" yelled sharply Cog waking him up from his little rest.

"What?" Saito replied still a bit sleepy, before being pushed by something akin to a wall down from his horse and flung against the rocks of the road they were treading upon.

"Ouch" he muttered as he could feel some of the bones inside of him start cringing, but he lifted his head up, to see an enormous figure, like a golem, but steeled and armed with a sword bigger than anything he had ever seen before.

"Partner! You alright!" yelled Derflinger, as Saito unsheathed it.

"Yes. He caught me by surprise *cough* that's all" Saito whispered back, coughing blood on the earth.

"Get the kids out of here!" Yelled Cog, as he charged head on against the towering golem, jumping from his horse right when the golem kicked it with a grace nobody thought possible for something so gigantic.

"You are no different from a Massagon on a nice day!" bitterly yelled Cog as he tried to grab onto a piece of the enemy's armor, just to find something stopping him mid-way. Looked like a psych-shield.

"Oh so *you* are something of a threat" he muttered, -just my luck- as the hand of the golem grabbed him tightly.

"Not as much as you. I was told you can use magic better than an elf. Is that true?" the voice which was distinctively female and familiar, was that of Myoznitnirn, albeit, from what Cog could see, the golems insides where empty.

"No leaving you!" the golem shouted, as it lurched forward with a surprisingly fast speed, cutting off the road to the kids and Tiffania, Saito wasn't there with the rest however.

"Squashing children isn't my forte, but I will do it if you try running again".

"Now, use it: use your magic against me Cog de la Lily, show me the power of a Shaitan"

"When an enemy asks you to use something, you know, the best thing is to ignore and go with the original plan" Cog replied; he would have shrugged, but was after all tightly held by the monster.

"You will use it or I will squash them!" the golem said raising a foot towards Tiffania and the kids who started trembling.

"Hey, I'm going to tell you my favorite saying then"

"You're just…"

"The bigger they are…"

"The harder they get hurt when they fall!" yelled a voice behind the Jormungard, who, while fast, wasn't quite actually expecting Saito lurching forward from the air straight down at the monster's hand, nor the fact that the sword actually managed to cut it down, while making the monster lose its balance and fall backwards.

"Impossible! The Jormungard's Ancient magic should have…"

"Thanks for the tip, but I ain't explaining how a Japanese boy managed to fly and pierce to the enemy" and with those words, Cog nodded at Saito, who, flying, pierced straight through the golem's plate mail, destroying it to pieces.

"You can use magic" Saito commented to Cog, who was actually consoling the kids with jokes about… sheep and Massagons, or something like that.

"So the Massagon is all fluffy, you get it? Because usually they are all, like, hard as steel" the kids didn't understand however, but it was still better than having them cry.

"Hey, speaking to you: you can use magic, and without wands"

"Yes, albeit it would be more correct to say I can use the logic of the surrounding area to bend matter and space to my will"

"So…how?" Saito asked curiously.

"That's classified information" Cog abruptly replied. "I must however note you are making progress: you actually understood my plan"

"Well…I suddenly felt myself lifted up; I certainly wasn't going to go for a walk"

"You did however attack him from behind"

"Well, you taught me that the back is the weakest spot in an enemy"

"You should have chopped his head off immediately" Cog noted with a *no-no* gesture

"You looked in a pinch however" Saito replied as he mounted back on his horse, gritting his teethes.

"I had everything under control: I was busy countering the guy's counter armor, or your attack would have bounced off, but… everything was planned" Cog said with a smug attitude, before mounting on his horse too.

"Yes…like I believe half of it"

The royal palace visit went by smoothly, especially because Cog spoke with Cardinal Mazarin privately, but Saito could have sworn the Cardinal actually lost half his weight in sweat after they came out from his studio. Henrietta wasn't there because of a goodwill visit to Romalia, but in the meantime an owl had already arrived with a letter for Cog, and another one awaited him on the trestle of his own studio at the academy.

Saito had his own room in the academy, thanks to his vice-commander status, inside the barracks; it was simple, yet had all the commodities one could have expected, a bed, a desk, a drawer and a mannequin for armor, Cog had told him something about a surprise in a couple of months, so the mannequin was probably the preparation. When he got back, he had expected everything, except seeing Louise, sitting on a chair next to the table sipping tea, with Siesta smiling widely at him. Louise looked at him. Siesta looked at him. Saito, much diligently, looked back.

"You" Louise muttered, barely holding back her anger.

"I?" Saito replied perplexed. In the time they had not seen each other Louise hadn't changed much; Saito on the other hand had become slightly more tanned, with a broader set of shoulders, Derflinger on his back and his air made Louise even angrier, it looked like he had not a care in the world.

"You left without saying a word."

"I do not answer to you" the reply came like a cold shower, the fact it came without a hint of fear, of guilt or anything, but more like a simple statement, made it even more cold.

"But…But you are my…" –Familiar, dog, water flea-

"Your?" Saito queried with a curious look Louise's reddening face. Siesta observed the scene without moving. Miss de la Vallière had been so much for hitting him, but something in Saito was amiss today, so she had no way of discerning when the noble girl was going to strike.

"I am her Highness Chevalier Hiraga Saito, Vice-Commander of the Imperial guards of the Ondine group; unless you have anything worth of note to tell me now, I would like you to leave and let me rest, it has been an exhausting week". With those words, Saito simply leaned Derflinger against the wall, and began setting down his things, while Louise, dumbstruck, didn't move.

"Well?" Saito asked after a moment. This was enough to shake Louise out of her stupor.

"You…You…" and with tears flowing down her cheeks she left the room. Siesta looked at Saito for a moment and then left, without a word.


	18. Chapter 18:Inquisitors cringe

Chapter Eighteen

The low humming of the fans, the low alternating energy of zeroes and ones echoed thorough the empty white halls, empty for everyone whose eyes were not keen enough to discern into the Nano scale. For those who could, the halls were filled with nanites, who were busy buzzing around information or chit chatting about this or that. Subroutine programs spoke haughtily about the last time they were called upon, and databases too old to be of any use were still kept online for good old times…or if something really old decided to come back and bite the Dystopia's ass. A subroutine program rerouted an incoming message, it didn't even bother to look at it, and curiosity was not a thing for Ai's. The Original yawned, while, more actually it should have been said that the holographic representation of a head yawned, still the fact remained that the head in question belonged to someone who, thousands of years prior, had defeated death and reached a higher form; if not of understanding, at least better under certain aspect important to the man in question.

Yawning was a habit thousands of years old, and as such it was purely done as a routine, and not as a sign of lack of sleep. Ais couldn't even sleep, so the problem didn't pose itself. Looking at the message, well, to be more correct at the thousands of message the heart and god of the Dystopia received every millisecond, one made him skip a byte. All the nanites in the room stopped; the subroutines, the routines, the upper routines and even the cleaning bots stopped for a second, and flinched. Everything then proceeded back to normal without problems.

However the fact that the Original had flinched was proof enough that something relatively strange had occurred. This something was the same thing brought forward by the alarm which had kept sounding through the net Station for at least a good half an hour.

"Make it stop!" yelled a communication officer to another.

"It's not stopping till we leave!"

"We can't leave!" yelled another.  
"So what? Planet fall without seeing anything is suicidal!"

"Drop pod number one has been cleared for launch!"

"Who authorized that!"

"Drop pod one has been launched!"

"Block it!"

"Request denied!"

"We are pulling out, let the cleansing fleet handle it!"

"Cleansing fleet is pulling out too!"

"What!"

"Orders are being transmitted for … First fleet!"

*Elsewhere*

"The signs are dire indeed: a falling star in the middle of the day" commented Headmaster Osman, seeing the tail of the star which seemed to be falling far over the horizon.

"Yes, now back to the point: repeat after me, Miss Westwood has easy to sunburn skin" Cog muttered at the senile old man.

"Yes, obviously! That's why she has to wear a hat"

"Good!"

With a nod Cog left the headmaster's office and began descending the stairs towards the main hall. On his way he strode past Professor Colbert who looked at him with a slightly angered expression.

"What is it now?" Cog replied stopping next to the man.

"Some of my students, Chevalier Cog, have asked me to explain them the principle of alchemy"

"So? You should feel honored"

"I would, normally; but they all seem to have an interest in saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, and what ingredients are best transformed into them"

"They seem to like rocks then" the words came as Cog sighed.

"They are planning something under your orders, right?"

"Mine? Why would I?" with the best surprised and fake expression ever, Cog placed his right hand on his chest.

"Just…know I will stop you, before you use them as tools for war" Colbert replied serious.

"Then a word of advice: Never speak your intentions to an enemy, professor. It makes the enemy smarter" Cog replied in a whisper, and then with a happy smile added "But we aren't enemies, so unless you wish to look forward to something that does not exist, be happy and keep teaching" he then waved the professor off, and left the professor there, in the hallway.

In the main hall, Saito was writing letters helped by Tabitha; Cog had insisted on him getting some secretary work to do, so provisions and supplies came through him now. Tabitha on the other hand now had a Ondine guards mantle on her back, as a square class mage, only an idiot would have ignored her potential; she was platoon sergeant of the first air Ondine guard regiment, Guiche had been moved to the first earth platoon.

As a military minded person, Cog had simple, yet effective ways to consider the hierarchy, taking into account what was already at hand, he divided the Ondine guards into five groups, Air were the long range specialists, Earth the melee ones, Water were the healers while Fire were tasked with mindless destruction and artillery cover. The fifth one he had nicknamed Void, and was the special units group, which sadly for Cog encompassed him and Saito at the present.

Tiffania was too peacefully minded to be even taken into consideration, the Zerbst while a nice addition to fire platoon, was too tightly knitted with Professor Colbert, as Montmorency was a friend of Louise, and refused after the way Saito had treated the pink haired girl.

Lacking that, as the new term rolled in, the application for the Ondine guards was renewed, and members of the corps walked in the school with uniforms shinier than ever, to attract new recruits. The test was always the same; so many first years spent the first weeks of school in the infirmary, but twenty-three were added to the corps. Now it actually looked like an imperial guard.

Saito finished scribbling the last amount of saltpeter required when Cog sat down in front of him; Tabitha made calm, if it could actually be considered calm, military salute towards Cog, and then said:

"Finished…improving"

"Hey Cog, I was wondering, what are we going to do with all of this stuff? I mean, it's a huge amount"

"Don't worry about it Saito, are they making any progress with the Chlorine?" Cog asked back; he had tasked some of the mages to use alchemy and try to realize a by-product of urine, which if used together with the grinded stuff…would make gunpowder.

"Well, the smell is there alright, but it's still not quite perfected"

"How's Tiffania doing?" Cog asked, he had been busy for a while answering and replying to letters from various places in the country. Somebody had been preparing a marriage for him. He was going to give a piece of his mind later on, but not at the present.

"She seems to be blending in…" Saito replied, giving a look in the direction of the table in the lower level, where Tiffania was sitting among the first years, a bit uncomfortable as she was surrounded by other students.

"Commander! I had a question" the Earth first platoon sergeant asked, which was Guiche, by the way.

"Ask away sergeant"

"I spoke with my father and he seemed out of his mind about your proposal…is that offer of land still available?" Guiche asked hesitantly.

"It is" Cog replied nodding.

"Then Guiche de Gramont will be known as Guiche de Ondine from now on" and after nodding to himself, Guiche started eating again.

"Good to have you onboard" Cog replied. Many students, especially the new ones who wore some bandages but were otherwise fit for studying, looked puzzled, so the Vice commander Saito explained:

"After the war of Albion, a large lot of noble of Tristain did not survive, and some of them had no other family members alive, so the land they owned went back to the queen." The first years all nodded in understanding, after all some of them had heard of a distant uncle or cousin who had died in the war.

"Cog wrote a letter to the queen and spoke with the cardinal, and together they came up with an idea to help the finances of the kingdom: assign the free lots to the Ondine guard as a group, and have the Commander, vice-commander and the sergeant of each platoon actually help in making the land strife, however one must be willing to give up his own entitled land, and add it to the group. This is the key condition: if you want a piece you have to contribute to the pie"

"Precisely" Cog replied "Now eat fast, the break after breakfast will be running laps!"

Saito had finished running around the academy grounds, while others had lessons to attend, he didn't have to because he wasn't able to use magic; Cog however insisted that he should nurture mind and body, so for half the afternoon he had to train, and for the other half he still had to study. Only he wasn't studying with books and wasn't studying history. He was studying situational awareness.

"In and out in three minutes!" Cog barked as Saito rushed through the stone stairs which led to the underground complex under the Ondine guards' barracks. In one of the stone corridors which had been made sturdier by earthen magic an obstacle course, complete with hay mannequin, was giving Saito problems. He ran Derflinger in hand dodging flying arrows with blunt tips, rubber bullets which still hurt were avoided by the brink of an eyelash, falling logs and spikes were among some of the easier traps, but fake doors, slippery floors and invisible strings made it even more difficult. Considering it was to be finished in three minutes, it was hellish. Saito wasn't actually complaining, it just looked like each time he did the same obstacle course, something was amiss, and something else changed; he had asked Cog repeatedly, but his friend had always told him that he changed nothing.

Louise had stopped showing herself in front of him and no longer having to depend on her, financially and for lodging, made her a distant, yet present figure, since something, even without the Gandalfr runes, made him ache inside.

"You know…" Saito began once as he laid on the floor of the course, taking his breath back after being slammed by a wooden log against a set of blunt spikes, "I…I don't actually hate Louise".

"I come down here, thinking you've kicked the bucket for a misaligned arrow, and all you have to say is that?" Cog replied looking downwards, towards where Saito was laying.

"Well…I still don't know how to get out from this pit…so I got myself some thinking time"

"You could try climbing"

"My right shoulder says otherwise"

"Unless your left hand agrees you still could make it" Cog pointed out.

"Though I suppose I could help you…please Charles, provide water" Charles, one of the water platoon mages, began pouring inside the pit water, as Saito gasped from the cold sensation, he started moving towards a corner and began climbing, holding Derflinger's handle with his teethes, he used his left hand to grab on the wall while his legs began kicking in the water to help in swimming upwards.

"Good. Now you can set his right shoulder" Cog added once he grabbed Saito by his left hand and pulled him out.

"Yes sir" Charles replied, before starting the healing magic; as Saito's pain grew less intense, the Japanese boy muttered something under his breath.

"Couldn't hear you: care to repeat?" Cog asked with a curious, yet wicked look.

"I said you could speak with your fiancé about…"

"Oh, so I did hear well. Good. Charles, you may stop now, I'm going to explain you how to manually put back in place a dislodged shoulder" and with those words, Saito's expression paled in fear.

Cog had been called, repeatedly disturbed in his studio, and even outright hunted like prey by Eleonore, who, having started to teach at Tristain's magic academy had done her best to make the demon's life unbearable. Probably faulting him for what her younger sister had brought upon herself with her own character. The point was that Cog always put up a smiling front, which unnerved Eleonore and the serpent like tongue of the black chevalier was far more poisonous than any other reptile, or arachnid, ever encountered. The more Eleonore was unnerved, the more she would call or otherwise disturb Cog, the more Cog was disturbed, the more he would retort, and the more he would retort, the more Eleonore would be unnerved. This was the way their wicked circle of love continued.

"So, my never happy goddess of despair and affliction, what is the matter today?" Cog asked Eleonore, who had managed to grab him by the collar before he could dash outside the Alviss dining hall.

"I particularly enjoyed your poem; it was so lame I managed to find boring books entertaining, as it burned into the fire pit"

"If this is all, I do have a training to attend"

"No, it's not all." Eleonore replied biting her lower lips, "There is something…I had heard that headmaster Osman has a secret archive somewhere in the lower levels of the academy, but when I went to check on it I found all the books had disappeared, and there were only empty shelves and desks. The Headmaster knows nothing, and if I did research on their whereabouts then I'd probably have to give them back without even looking at them for a while…" she looked sideways at the floor, crossing her arms.

"Oh. Well, sure." Cog nodded, "Do I get a prize at the end?" he queried with a smile.

"I say…well…we could hold hands" she replied embarrassed and her face reddened.

"Very well, the sooner I'll start searching, the sooner I'll find something" and as Cog gave his back to her, to leave, Eleonore gasped:

"Oh! I nearly forgot… the girl you brought here with the queen's permission; it seems she's getting bullied"

"So? Everyone must learn to fend for themselves." And with a parting nod Cog left the dining room.

The next morning, Cog was moving through a corridor of the academy, thinking when was the best time to tell his fiancé that the disappeared books were actually on the shelves of his studio. Or in the underground complex he had remodeled after closing off a part of the headmaster's secret library. He nodded at the desert dressed Tiffania who walked by nervously towards her classroom, and reached the outer garden before stopping. Tiffania without a hat and with her hair flowing was naturally beautiful. Of course the problem was that she was without a hat. "Wait, she was without a hat" Cog ran back in, just in time to hear the class gasp in surprise.

"Help! An elf!"

"Please, I mean no harm, really!" Tiffania begged to the classroom, trying maybe to explain her reasons.

"Ah! If you wish to be considered any different, than you should…" a blond haired girl started haughtily speaking, but as Cog barged in someone of the first years present in that class, who were among his troops, stood up in salute while yelling:  
"Commander Cog!"

"At rest!" he barked back, as the students sat back down. The commander would surely take care of everything about the elf. Wait, didn't the commander bring the elf here in the first place? The murmurs rolled by, and once surprise was set back in, the eyes of the classroom turned to him. Like wanting an explanation.

"You…what is the reason for this?" he sighed, looking at Tiffania, who, holding her hands clasped together replied after a moment of hesitation.

"I just wanted to… get along well with everyone, really!"

"Then a heresy inquiry should be conducted to decide about this vile elf!" the blond girl spoke again, Cog turned to the girl speaking, raising an eyebrow.

"You are?"

"I am Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf! Having royal Tristain blood in my veins I should be called *Your Highness* but I will concede on this point; after all you are the Commander of the Ondine guards, Cog de la Lily, right?"

"So…let me get this straight…you claim to have royal blood?"

"The aunt of King Phillip the third that ruled 2 generations ago married with the brother of the previous head of the Guldenhorf family."

"So…the sister of Queen Henrietta's grandfather married with the brother of your grandfather?"

"Precisely"

"So how does … that blood move to you? Shouldn't it move with your cousins?"

The class kept silent at those words, as Yvonne's expression became pale.

"No! Because it's still within the family!" she retorted back, and, at that moment, Cog shrugged.  
"Not like a care. So, what is it you want to do?"

"A heresy inquiry! If she wants to get along with us, she should prove to have faith in founder Brimir!"

"I see." Cog then turned to Tiffania with a smiling face. "It's your call: but if you will choose to accept it, I will not lift a finger in your defense" were his simple words.

Tiffania was brought outside by the dragon knights the Luftpanzer Ritter, who had a yellow dragon as their crest. They went as far as breaking a window, since they barged into the classroom with dragons and proceeded to bring Tiffania outside while the other classmates followed excitedly.

"You" Cog said to one of the first years who stopped nervously. "Go call the vice commander of the Ondine guards Hiraga Saito. Tell him Barracuda, and he'll understand" the guy nodded, before leaving this time running, maybe he would make it in time to catch a glimpse of the Heresy inquiry later on.

In the courtyard, a pot of boiling water was placed and as students began amassing; a natural circle was formed, which had at its center Tiffania, held under aim by the dragon knights, and by Beatrice, who was explaining.

"If you really are a faithful of founder Brimir, this scorching water will just feel alright to you; otherwise, you will probably be burned by it to the death" the students all around them knew that this heresy inquiry was actually a way for the church to carry out its executions, believer or not nobody would survive staying in a pot of boiling water. Cog simply walked neared to the girls, the dragon knights lifted their wands at him, but he didn't even flinch.

"So, it's this a heresy inquiry?" he asked courteously.

"Yes! You and everyone else will be witness to this"

"I see…well then certainly I won't be stopping this" Cog replied nodding. He was utterly calm, so much Tiffania herself didn't know wherever to be afraid or not.

"I am however generous; if you decide to go back to your village, then this heresy will stop here" Beatrice added.

"No, I will not leave because of a cowardly person" Tiffania replied shaking her head.

"Shouldn't headmaster Osman be called for this?" students murmured.

"It's not like Tiffania has ever been vile" another murmur.

"Yeah, we should call the teachers"

"The inquiry will now begin!" Beatrice yelled, and as some of the dragon knights moved their hands forward to grab the girl, the students from one side of the circle were rudely shoved aside, as a formation of armored knights, bearing the symbols of the royal family moved forward. It was a part of the Ondine Guards, and their armors which had arrived overnight. Everyone had been eager to try them at least once before in actual combat, and now was the chance, however it wasn't the full corps, more like a fourth of it. The reason behind their harsh trainings, the muscles pain, the tears and the sweat, was all for this moment.

As one body, the first row raised their wands, and the second row began chanting; the dragon knights were expecting an attack from the elf or from Cog, not from the exterior, so they took time to redirect their wands and let loose a fling of ice arrows. It was enough for the second row to finish chanting, and as a thick wall of stone rose up in front of the platoon, the ice arrows broke up against it without even scratching a dent in it. Some of the second row students had cast alchemy, instead of conjuring the stone wall, to harden it.

Small holes were placed at same distance both horizontally and vertically, so the Imperial guards could put the tip of their wands outside, and see, albeit limitedly, at who to fire. The first row had finished casting its own spells, and a torrent of air blades sliced directly in front of them, making the dragon knight scramble.

"Chief! We should get to the drag…" but the dragon knight couldn't finish the sentence, their dragons were flying away, chased by a flaming tornado.

Cog began whistling.

"My, the Vice commander learned the lesson" he said chuckling a moment.

"I wouldn't have done better!" Cog yelled into the air for no reason, but as the dragon knights were not a ragtag bunch of mercenaries, they soon took back formation, and using the Imperial guards trick against them, they entered a war of attrition. Beatrice was watching the scene dumbfounded. Someone was actually fighting against a heresy inquiry.

"Hey girl" Cog said looking at Beatrice.

"What? You said you wouldn't interfere!"

"I ain't interfering. However, I've got a suggestion for you: tell your knights to surrender, or they will lose"

"Nonsense! They are the bravest and the strongest of Luftpanzer Ritter!"

"Yes, and they are also idiots"

With those words Cog turned to look at the battlefield, the terrain in front of the dragon knights crackled and split apart, all the way till where they had entrenched themselves, as they fell downwards, they could feel something wrong, as they crashed onto barrels.

"Earth platoon sergeant! REPORT!" Cog yelled, and with those words, Guiche emerged riding Verdanti, right in front of him "AIF!" the acronym for all is fine.

"You should surrender now! This is the only chance you will get to avoid the infirmary or the earth embrace!" yelled a voice from above them. The dragon knights cursed the voice, and with a nod from Cog, Reynal, the newly appointed Fire platoon Sergeant, let the small flame ball dash downwards. He was riding Sylphid, together with Tabitha, after making the dragons of the enemies fly away, they had come back.

The explosion which followed threw many dragon knights into the air, and many against the walls of the pit which Verdanti had dug under their own feet. Finally, as the dust settled, the remaining bunch of dragon knight counted three individuals still on their feet. Those agile enough to remove their armors behind the trenches, and lucky enough to jump out of harm way when the ground had collapsed under their feet.

They still didn't seem to be willing to give up, but it was no longer a battlefield; only a carnage, so as they stood there, uncertain, a black armored knight rode forward, fast for a human, maybe nearly as fast as Gandalfr himself. On his back, the Vice commander symbol and the Imperial guards crest. Derflinger in hand he jumped over the pit made by Verdanti like it was a small hole done by a child, and with the blunt of the sword swiped the right left of the first dragon knight, making him lose his balance and stomping on his face with his steeled boot before jumping backwards, to avoid a wind blade from one of the two remaining ones.

Derflinger shone brightly, as Saito charged in, absorbing the magic that the chevalier tried to cast, but with no avail. The left hand of Saito did not flash, or brighten up, or runes appeared. This was Saito fighting, with his strength, none of which was borrowed, all of it that was achieved through training. His left hand formed a fist, impacting against the dragon knight's stomach, and without armor, the blow sent the man down puking his guts outward. The last remaining dragon knight raised his hands in a surrendering manner, but Saito still seemed to move forward, so the knight got on his knees and began pleading.

Saito didn't stop. He kept on moving. Then, he passed next to the guy, not considering him in the slightest, and removed his helm, so that he could more easily speak with Cog.

"Barracuda? Really? Wouldn't Chopper have sufficed?"

"Better safe than sorry" Cog replied nodding, Beatrice was on really frightened by now.

"Now, what do we do with her?" Cog thought loudly, "After all she did ask for a heresy inquiry on a guest of her Highness Queen Henrietta…Maybe we should perform such inquiry on her too?"

Tiffania was whimpering, having kept quiet from the shock till now, she managed to shake her head violently and say:

"No!" holding Beatrice's hands she said "Please, don't do it, I just hope we can all be friends now…please"

For a moment Cog remained silent, as the students gathered once more, in wait, the Imperial guards finished disarming the dragon knights and the water platoon healed those more wounded, until they would be taken to the infirmary.

Montmorency was in awe about Guiche's stern attitude. He had always been a playboy, but now he actually seemed serious, and in that armor, he even looked like the white prince from fairy tales. Cog had actually done something good…maybe she would reconsider joining…but next to her Louise was gritting her teethes, as they were watching the all scene unfold from a terrace of the academy, she had heard both the fight noises and the "Stupid, Idiot, What are you doing. Beg for me, come on" go on until it had died during Guiche's appearance in the fight and the final dash of Saito for the swift ending.

"You have to admit, they were good" Montmorency said carefully.

"Good! That was…"

"I'm in love" another girl said on the terrace, looking with lovely eyes at Cog? Or Saito? Didn't matter to Louise, who pouted back:

"Their character is wicked, I tell you! Wicked" the first years dispersed under the third year's malicious intent and murderous stare.

"Louise!" a voice snapped from her back, and Eleonore appeared on the terrace too. "What are you doing here?"

"Watching your fiancé demolishing the Luftpanzer Corps and stopping a heresy inquiry" Louise said with a smug look on her face, before being pinched by her elder sister, really hard.

"No. He did absolutely nothing, standing there without doing a single thing, maybe you are not seeing properly."

"Wait...ouch…you were watching!" Eleonore reddened, but then pinched harder.

"None of your business! Now move! You are a bit behind on your lessons!"

Cog sighed, "Fine then. It's your call". Saying that, he shrugged once more, and Beatrice's leg finally gave in and she fell on her knees, crying like the child she was for having been saved from the scary demons.

*Later that day*

Cog was happily dozing off after dinner, sitting on a chair in the side of the Vestri courtyard which hadn't been used, and was still a training ground, and sighed, Saito had brought a chess table, but was taking time deciding his next move.

"I'm eating your king in two moves wherever you like it or not" Cog pointed out.  
Saito however kept his focus on the chess table.

"You still haven't lost your touch" a voice said behind Cog.

"Well, I played this for a…" but then Cog's voice died in his throat.

Saito looked at him curiously, and then behind him, as a figure appeared out of thin air. It had the same helmet Cog wore the first time he had appeared, and also a black and green camouflaging armor it held a sort of long but not very wide trunk on her back, and clearly looked like a she from the curves the armor she had hinted.

"Cog…" Saito whispered just after he had moved his tower to eat Cog's pawn.

The figure removed its helmet, and long, violet hair emerged from it, flowing down behind her shoulders. She had clear blue eyes and her face appeared stern; a small cut on the lower side of her chin didn't help at all in making it more graceful.

"Five seven eight six three nine, commander of Genocide, Elite Class, Father. What the hell are you doing here without armor!" the woman exclaimed with an angry look on her face.

"Playing chess". With those words, Cog moved the horse.

"Checkmate" he whispered.


	19. Chapter 19: Hard Feelings

**Answers to Reviewers thus far:**

**First off, thanks for any review! Second, I've started on the suggestion of Jackofalltrades to make separate lines for speeches, I suppose now it's more enjoyable. On another note thanks for the encouragement words from Khartik9, Dunov, Hont91 and Nekuromansa000. **

Chapter Nineteen

A bullet in space will fly until it hits something. IF that something's mass is floating and not on a gravitational pull, then that something will start moving alongside the bullet's intended trajectory, deviating as little as anything else which comes against it in the opposite direction.

Air offers resistance against a bullet, the wind changes its course, the recoil of the rifle, the risk of the sniper's own breathing, anything as little as a bird lifting up when the bullet passes, a shock, a scare, an explosion. Bullets in the air are the worst to fire, but someone needs to do it.

Those are the Snipers. Standing still for days, weeks, or even months, immobile, becoming one with the ground, the gravel, the dirt, the rubble. Their eyes are their most precious tools, their guns their most prized possession, and, even then, many do not live long enough to warrant a retirement.

"So…father" the woman crossed her arms with a sigh, looking at Cog and at Saito, who had in the meantime stood up.

"…Saito? This is one of my hassles, my daughter…" Cog began presentations, but the woman stopped him.

"I can present myself just fine, father. I am Sniper course first class, for this world's mission, my codename is Mary."

"Mary?" Cog replied raising an eyebrow.

"Mary." The woman nodded.

"Well…it's a pleasure to meet you Mary" Saito said, raising his right hand for a handshake, though a feeling now crept inside him: he might be going home soon. The woman didn't shake however, Saito thought that maybe it was his fault, for still keeping on the armor and the steeled gauntlet.

"So, are we going home?" Saito added again, with a hint of hope albeit removing the lifted hand, to which, however, Mary replied:

"No. The Net station and the cleansing fleet of that idiot brother of mine had to leave"

"Why would they leave?" Saito asked, as Cog had placed a hand on his chin and looked lost in thoughts.

"Red and yellow biological alert…father…have you seen anything which would represent such a risk?" Mary asked Cog, who shook his head.

"Biological alert? Like a virus or something?" Saito had yet to be sick of anything on this world.

"Red and yellow means a biological sentient weapon of some kind, probably a machine of some sort"

"I haven't, so, if the station and the fleet left, what are you doing here?" Cog asked, looking at Mary with a gruff look.

"Well…I might have been on the pod before anyone said anything…" Mary looked sideways, as she said that.

"Why was a cleansing fleet needed?" Cog asked once more.

"There was no planet on the radar of the Net station, and it looked like some sort of stealth field had hidden it and its moons. So we needed a cleansing fleet's radar"

Saito had understood less than half their words, but it was enough.

"So, if we find this problem and destroy it, we can go back home?"

Cog shook his head.

"It depends. What if you end up infected? What if we already are? What if it's a sleeping virus which awakes only in certain conditions? Would you risk infecting your family? Your world? What if the biological weapon are remains of some sort, left underground? The natural course of action is for one of the first ten fleets to pass by and began crash conquest"

"Crash conquest?" Saito asked.

"Basically an extermination of sort in the surrounding area of the threat, and then have their scientists look at it and decide what to do"

"You mean they could kill us all?" Saito gasped.

"Hold your horses. Wherever this thing is, it certainly isn't in Tristain or the surrounding areas"

"Father, you intend to adopt him too?" Mary asked looking with a smile at Cog and Saito speaking.

"He's got a family to return to, I can share the feeling, albeit one of my hassles is already here" Cog replied.

"So…what do we do now?" Saito asked.

"We keep on going as always, though now is the time to sleep. The night brings rest and counsel"

"You still keep saying proverbs every two sentences?" Mary asked with a chuckle.

"Yes, he does" Saito nodded.

*Elsewhere*

The battlefield of Kaur thirteen was riddled with craters the size of basketball courts. On it the first platoon was holding crater Charlie, to cover up for the twenty-fifth and thirty-two armored battalions to take flanking positions. A Massagon was hurling plasma balls from his fists, as his psych shield was dwindling away under the enemy's attacks. Reptilian like creatures who channeled electricity through their bodies and onto their guns and defenses were the enemy of today. Their nests underground, and three to four hundred eggs per day laid by their matriarchs, it wasn't a tough enemy, but damn if there was a lot of them.

Some were bigger than others though, reaching easily the size of tanks, it was like watching a Jurassic park movie, with T-rex armed to the brink and puking electricity.

On the bright side, that flank was going to be held until the last soldier.

"Hold the damn line!" the platoon sergeant yelled, as his gun unloaded the magazine straight into the chest of one of those overgrown lizard, before jumping to the side, to allow another soldier a line of fire towards the beast. As the bullets pierced the monster's head, it crashed down, "You with me soldier!" the commander yelled, "And you too!" pointing at another one. Sure, the orders given through the helmets wouldn't have needed yelling to go across, but he wanted to yell to make sure they understood the situation.

They trekked to the side of the crater, to watch the armored battalions' movements. "If they keep at it, we'll be done here in five minutes!" the message reached everyone in the platoon, who yelled a cheer, as the bullets kept flying.

"ARTILLERY INBOUND!" yelled someone, as a bright electric orb descended to the side blasting a small hole in the platoon defense, small enough to let a swarm of smaller lizards through.

"Flamethrowers get to it!" two Psychics aimed their open palms at the lizards, and fire erupted from there, as Pyrokinesis was one of the courses they had cleared with ease, they practically were living flamethrowers. Some lizards managed to dent the arm of a couple of soldiers, before being burnt to a crisp.

"Close the damn hole!"

"Message coming through!" an alert pinged, but the commander had no time to read it.

"Get me a medic! This one is bad!" yelled someone.

"Hold the line!" "Someone get a stretcher!" "The armored battalion is ready!" "What the hell is that!" "Stay down!" "Put I said!" noises. Noises echoed everywhere as the line was held and the armored battalion's mechs began their artillery barrage on the nest. As the rocks crumbled downwards, the first platoon retreated downwards, abandoning the position. With that brief respite, the message was opened.

"You've got to be kidding me" the commander muttered.

"I'm killing the bastard with my own hands!" he yelled again raising his fist to the sky.

*Elsewhere*

The next day another problem arose.

"Reynal, what am I going to do with you?" Cog muttered looking at the boy who was whispering excuses one after the other. "And you too, Malicorne. Really, the best I can do is actually hope you understand the situation you got yourself in"

"I tried to stop him!" Reynal exclaimed, his eyes giving away him being scared.

"You should have known better" Mary whispered, as she was holding both the boys down in a double hold, only a few inches away from breaking both their hands actually.

"We were just curious! That's all really!" Malicorne exclaimed.

"Curious people would have stopped at the reason for the sheets to go up and down; they wouldn't have tried to grope my chest while at it. I was even in the good mood and thought of letting you off for entering the room in the first place"

"Why were you in the guest room to begin with?" Saito asked, as he was calmly having breakfast with a slice of toasted bread and butter. They were in Cog's office, and Siesta had gently provided the breakfast before leaving, without expressing much of a smile except making it clear she wouldn't smile to Saito for some reason.

"Well Commander…there is usually the line for the bath…so we…well…started to use the guest one's" Reynal muttered slowly.

"So skipping the line too…however I should praise sideway thinking…well then you'll clean the bath of barracks for the next month, but you will get double wine rations, is this fine?" the question was obviously rhetoric, as both the boys nodded, Cog waved a hand, and Mary removed her hold.

"Thank you sir!" the two boys said, trying to leave, but Cog stopped them with a cough. "You have not seen this woman in these barracks. Utter a word and I will find you a non-lethal punishment so hard that you will wish for death"

The two nodded once more, hastily, and then ran off.

"So, Mary, I was thinking you could go on a scouting mission in the elven lands. They seem to be naturally born psychics." Cog pointed out, as he began sipping coffee.

"It's only been less than a day since we have met, once more, after your signal marked you dead, and all you can think of is a scouting mission?" Mary replied slightly gritting her teethes, as she chewed on butter sandwich.

"Yes. Now since you know I'm still alive, you can go" Cog replied, as his eyes went towards an owl, which had flown inside from the open window, it was the grey one.

"Owl messages? Really?" Mary pointed out looking at that. "You wouldn't hurry me away unless you had something to hide. So…what is it?" curiously moving towards the owl.

"Zhert!" snapped Cog to which Mary stopped immediately on her tracks.

-Must be some sort of command in his language- Saito thought. He kind of wondered what it meant.

Cog stood up and went to get the owl's message. Reading it slowly, and then, after a brief look at Mary, eating it with another sip of coffee.

"You can depart immediately, or with the night's favor, whatever you do not be discovered." Cog muttered as he took a quill and dipped it in the ink bottle.

"With no communication link am I meant to use an owl too?" Mary queried.

"I suppose you will find a way to deliver important information: just have them sent to the royal palace of Tristain's servitude girl *Marylene*"

"You did not actually prepare that ahead of time" Mary replied surprised, nearly choking on the milk bottle she was drinking.

"Yes I did" Cog replied nodding, as he actually wrote down the instructions for the cardinal on this letter; though why speak one's own mind? "Now finish your breakfast and tell me about the last news from the sixth quadrant"

A thought hit Saito just then, "Wait. You have no problem telling me this? I mean this info's about war and quadrants; I can leave if you want". At that point, a shocked face appeared on Cog.

"Why would I? Until you do get back home, there is no way this information might harm anyone; furthermore, I will erase all your memories about me, or anything Dystopian related, once you get back home."

Saito was the one who coughed on his food at those words, looking at Cog in disbelief.

"When were you thinking of telling me?" he yelled.

"Well, I told you now" Cog replied.

"Father! I'm surprised you actually told him anything to begin with" Mary replied. "The laws are clear; it might even be treason at this point…father, you didn't actually commit treason right?" the girl had a slight begging tone in her voice.

"Oh try and call treason on my head, I'm ready to speak my mind with the Original himself!" Cog snapped back, "Come on girl, if I actually had committed treason, would I speak about it now?" he added then, with a more gentle tone.

"You would! You are a manipulative cold hearted jerk of a father!" the woman replied, suddenly disappearing from sight, albeit the door opened, and closed, with a loud slam.

Saito was no longer hungry, as the thought of forgetting everything made him feel uneasy.

"So, I won't remember training, how will I explain the scars and similar?" he hesitantly asked Cog.

"You will remember training, or fighting, or killing, but it won't be with me. Anyone from this world you have seen even if for just a second will be used as a replacement. Words about the Dystopian will be removed, so you'll simply remember doing things, but not the words…it happens to forget important things" Cog replied shrugging.

"Why? Can't I be trusted to keep a secret?" Saito replied in shock.

Cog looked at him with a smile, and then said:

"It's better like this. By the way, go grab Louise de la Vallière, Tiffania and the rest of the Ondine Guards. Only these however, and tell them to come to my office in the next forty-five minutes. If they aren't, I'll simply grab them by the neck"

"Yes, sir" Saito replied a bit sadly, before leaving for his duty, thinking about what he had to do, he first stopped in his room, to get the necessary equipment to handle the problems.

Saito walked along the corridors stopping every now and then Ondine guards, and ordering them to move immediately towards the Commander's office for official duty. He left the most problematic for last, as he calmly walked inside the class which housed the third year lessons. Chevreuse the Red Clay was holding lesson, once more, but stopped once Saito entered the room. Wearing his dark armor, and with whispers among the back rows of *the black knight rolling in* Saito coughed once to get everyone's attention.

"Sergeant of the air platoon, Tabitha de Ondine, Louise Françoise de La Vallière, Sergeant of the Earth platoon, Guiche de Ondine, Malicorne and Sergeant of the Fire platoon Reynal de Ondine; you are all requested in forty-five minutes tops in the office of Commander Cog de la Lily des Ondine. This is all, you may resume normal lessons" then, with a military salute, Saito left. He got lucky enough that everyone was too surprised to say anything, still, this worked for the best, because ten minutes later, Guiche was jolting next to him, as Malicorne and Reynal were a bit behind.

On the other hand, when Cog's office was nearly crammed with Ondine Guards, a pink haired girl was still missing. Everyone was divided in straight lines, with at the head of each one of the sergeants. At the head of the water platoon was Charles des Ondine. The only missing one was Louise actually. Cog silently stood still in front of the reunited corps, in wait, Saito was by his side, nervously waiting, Tiffania on the other hand had been offered a seat. Slowly the clock on the wall watch began moving towards the end of the allotted time. Once the forty-five minutes ended, Cog sighed, and everyone's eyes stared at him. Thoughts of what he was going to do were already flying around the heads of the students, but he muttered:

"Oh well. Time's up. Here's the briefing: we are tasked to go to Romalia on an escort mission and protect Miss de la Vallière and Miss Tiffania Westwood from harm, and once there, to act as the bodyguards for her majesty, Queen Henrietta. Needless to say that you are all justified from taking lessons during our leave. I must furthermore warn you that if you will prove incompetence during this first, easy, mission, I will take a course of action in order to *correct* your incompetence" he said so gently, with a nice smile, but nearly everyone, except Tabitha, and the other first years knew that correcting would mean doing the same training as the vice-commander, hellish for many of the weak muscled nobles.

"Any questions?" Cog asked then.

"None from me" Replied Saito. Tabitha shook her head, as did Reynal, and Guiche and Charles. Then also the soldiers shook their heads. Tiffania hesitantly raised a hand.

"Yes, Tiffania?"

"I…I don't know why I should come too"

"The Queen requested your presence"

"I see…but am I going to be safe?" Tiffania being an elf, it would be like sending a mouse in a cat's den.

"Don't worry, if anyone will wish you harm, be it the people or the guards, I'll take action immediately" Cog replied softly. "Furthermore, attacking us or our protégé would be utter suicide. We are the Imperial guards of the Water spirit, the Ondine corps, if anyone tries that, it would turn into a diplomatic mess of epic proportion, furthermore I'd probably have Reynal over there leave charred remains instead of a city."

A slight murmur crept through the back rows.

"Isn't that heretic though?" "I think he was speaking as metaphors" "Yeah, Reynal is faithful to the founder too, probably a metaphor" "It's slightly heretical though" "Remember the last who tried to pull an inquiry?"

"Silence there!" Saito snapped, and the room turned silent once more.

"Well, now that this is over, you are free to prepare, we will depart this afternoon, and will reach the port city of Cittadella in three days" the military salute was then done in an harmonious movement, and the office then emptied except for three persons.

"Three days?" Tabitha asked, one of the three remaining, together with Saito and Tiffania.

"We will be taking the Ostland ship from Professor Colbert" Cog replied.

"He was okay with that?" Saito asked, it was the recent murmur that Professor Colbert had been overtly fighting to get the students to stop entering the corps and learning how to fight and kill.

"He insisted. He actually said that without him, I'd probably bring back blood thirsty murderers and not students" Cog said with a chuckle.

"You shouldn't be proud about that" Saito retorted.

"Well, miss Westwood?" Cog turned his gaze towards Tiffania, who seemed to be in difficulty.

"Did…did I do anything wrong?" her eyes were already watery, she was trying to think why the Queen would want to speak with her, maybe she did something wrong. Her grades weren't bad, maybe they wanted more? Were the kids alright? Did something happen to them?

"No, nothing at all, my sister just wants to speak with you. Rest assured; no harm is intended" cog said again, with a gentle smile and a soothing voice. He could go from menacing to calm and gentle in less than a second.

"Yes…then…I have to prepare things" and Tiffania embarrassedly departed.

Saito and Tabitha were the only two people remaining.

"Well? Anything else?"

"Gallia?" Tabitha asked to which Cog shook his head, Tabitha nodded, and then left.

"I…" Saito began, but was interrupted by the door opening up with a loud slam.

Eleonore barged in, followed by Louise.

"Well! Why is it that your lapdog keeps interrupting lessons from other teachers! Huh!" Eleonore angrily snorted, as she stood straight in front of Cog, trying to assume a menacing form.

Cog raised an eyebrow…Saito gulped; this was something he had learned from observing Cog: he was fine with people being of different ranks, he wasn't fine with treating someone lowly just because they were lower ranked, however, and especially, he didn't like it at all when someone was called something less than appropriate.

"I have no lapdog" Cog replied with cold words, but Eleonore didn't take any consideration in this, instead keeping up her strong front.

"This guy here stormed into class interrupting a lesson! A class my sister was attending and demanding for her to get here immediately! If you think you can treat us like you're treating any other nobility around Halkeginia then you're wrong! I demand respect as your fiancé, but as a La Vallière first!"

"Respect?" Saito made a step back. Cog had closed his eyes and a clear aura of anger was nearly emerging like a flaming blaze as he had said that word. Louise hid behind Eleonore, she had intended to help her sister, but right now, she was tugging at her elder hoping she'd realize she was stepping on a caltrop.

"Yes. You ought to give respect to those who are of higher nobility!"

The wooden desk cracked in two symmetrical parts, as Cog stood up, and as he opened his eyes, this times it was a murderous stare.

"What decides who is high?" he whispered in a tone of voice which made Louise weep.

Eleonore had thought that after a harsh set of words he would back down, or smile and take it ironically, like always, instead, it seemed there was a touchy subject in there.

"We have a high pedigree…" Eleonore muttered, but as soon as she finished the sentence, she felt air missing from her lungs, as Cog had grabbed her by the neck with a furious strength.

"Merits of the family are not merits of the descendant" he whispered. "I'd snap your neck like a twig, but Saito there, the lapdog, seems to have a different opinion, since he's got his sword in hand right now. So I'll let you off this time, dear fiancé of mine, but the next time you will dare speak of respect, without knowing what you're speaking of, I will not have mercy" and with that said, he left Eleonore go, who fell to the ground coughing and breathing hard for the oxygen which had started to lack from her lungs.

"Elder sister Eleonore!" Louise yelled as she got down on her knees to check on her. She then looked angrily at Cog. "Even if you're the Commander of the Imperial guards, to raise your hand against a Duke's daughter is…"

"Oh shut up, you're making it worse!" Saito exclaimed, putting himself between the la Vallière and Cog.

"You should have realized it by now! You just need to control your tongues! Is it that difficult! Do I have to explain etiquette to nobles! You keep thinking you're always right, and treat the rest like shit. You can't even look at other people without thinking if any of their ancestors wronged you in some way! Cog comes from a different world where everyone is considered equal, and higher ups are those with merit and who have made their ways from the down, grinding up through blood and tears. You who have simply been born in nobility have no right at all to talk him down! NONE!"

Louise's words died in her mouth, as Eleonore's face became surprised.

Saito had thought his words would have been enough, but Cog sighed behind his back.

"Saito. You just said *Different World*" as he said that, he moved to take a couple of chairs and while placing one next to Eleonore, he gave the other one to Louise.

They sat on them more on reflex, than anything.

"Now, Saito, would you mind sitting down? It's going to be easier if you confirm"

Later that night, the Ostland departed. Cog's quarters had been decided near the steam engines, the chance had deemed that Saito's room would be right next to him. The rest of the students obviously were in more silent, comfortable rooms at the other side of the ship. So Cog and Saito took to sleeping on the deck, where the noise was at least bearable, being furthermore the fifth month of the year, nights weren't that cold. The last night Cog felt someone tapping slightly on the side of his shoulder; he slowly opened one eye, and felt something not quite heavy, but surely not so light, on his legs. It was Tabitha, who was reading a book. Next to her however Sylphid, who had her head on Cogs chest. Looking at him with a devoid of emotions expression she said "Noisy downstairs", before getting back to reading. Cog yawned, and shook Saito off his sleep of hamburger steaks and French fries.

"What?" the boy snorted as he saw the scene. "You want privacy?" he added then, just to get a hand gesture from Cog.

"Go down and see what the noise is all about. I'd move if I also didn't have a dragon on me" he sighed. This looked like that night on Mersyg Two. The thermic suits were filled with holes and the only way of survival had been something too embarrassing to mention. Ever again.

Saito moved downstairs, truthfully, there was more noise than usual. Louise was half drunk, spouting angry words at everything and everyone, yelling her disdain to the founder for giving her horrible familiars who were badmouthed, stupid, and furthermore prone to leaving her whenever they wanted.

Guiche sighed in relief seeing Saito approach.

"She's your problem now, Vice-Commander"

"Yes…I understand" Saito replied, as he stood straight in front of Louise, who looked at him with watery eyes.

"You jerk!" she pouted at him, splashing him with an empty glass of wine. In her mind, it was still half filled.

"You never learn, do you?" Saito sighed, sitting on a nearby chair.

Louise closed her fist tightly, and went near him, before looking at him with red eyes, from the wine and the tears.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" she yelled "You think you're someone worthy of praise, aren't you? You are just a rude, arrogant, noble-wannabe!"

"You are instead everything but a graceful noble. A small tyrant would suit you best."

"Small! I'm small am I?" Louise pouted starting to throw weak punches against Saito's chest.

"Yes, you're small, and you've got a wicked character"

"Wicked! You have a nasty tongue! Give it to me! So I can cut it off!" She replied, then reddening as some sort of thought entered her mind.

"What? If that's so what do you have?" Saito looked at her in disbelief for a moment.

Louise stayed silent for a second, and then started sobbing.

"I thought…we…we were…"

"What? A mage and its familiar? A servant and its master? What? I am a human being, just coming here was hard enough, but then no, it didn't stop there, I killed for you. Not only did I kill for you, but I did it thinking it was the right thing, in order to protect you! Then guess what? I learned the familiar runes were the cause of me thinking that! I killed people because the runes made me think so! I've got their blood on my hands, these hands of mine will forever be bloodied, and you've got the bloody stupid idea of thinking that everything would be fine, or the same? I am no longer your familiar, no longer a Gandalfr, but I don't care! I am still me, and I will go back home on my own, or with Cog's help, or so on, but I will no longer have my mind shrouded by your magic" Saito snapped.

"So, if you want, we can start again, once more, this is like the third time, or the fourth, I don't care. My name is Hiraga Saito, and I want to go back home. I'm the one who slaughtered an army in the battle of Tarbes, I am the one who held the line near Rosais, I am a soldier, a chevalier and the Vice-commander of the Ondine guards, and I demand respect. Do you understand this?" he added then, in a slow, but determined voice.

Louise looked at him in silence for a moment. Shocked maybe, but then nodded.

"I… I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de la Vallière, I was nicknamed the Zero in school, but now I'm a user of the void…and…" her face reddened, embarrassment or wine was the likely culprit "I would like to be friends again with you. I hate it when I'm ignored…" she whispered.

Saito patted her on the head, twice. The first because she had done well, the second because everything was forgiven. Just then, Louise's head slowly rose forward, and her lips met his.

On the deck, instead, Cog was trying to sleep with a snoring dragon, who also tended to drool, and Tabitha, who instead had cuddled by his side, effectively taking up half his cover.

-If only my nanites hadn't kicked the bucket-

*Elsewhere*

-Reactivation process completed. New routines initiated: Obey the Master. Protect the Master. Kill the enemies of the master. I am the spear and the shield of the master, I am Gandalfr- with those routines in mind, the AI block moved, assuming the demonic form so known, and jumped off the balcony of the dancing hall, and began running towards the remaining missing nanites: those in Saito's ear.


	20. Chapter 20:Tremble faith, life and death

Chapter Twenty

The Ostland reached Cittadella late at night, so docking procedures had to wait for the morning.

This was meant to be a field trip, to avoid suspicions, so everyone was wearing their usual clothing, except Saito and Cog, who wore for the first time Student-like clothing.

"So, what happened last night?" Cog asked Saito, as he didn't come back at all.

"Uh…nothing" Saito replied, blushing as he turned his stare elsewhere.

"Don't give me the *nothing* crap; what was the noise problem about?"

"Nothing! A…leaking pipe" Saito replied hastily.

"Louise was drunk" Tabitha murmured behind Saito's back, making the boy jump by surprise.

"You should learn to lie better Saito" Cog sighed, before turning his gaze to the officers from the city, clad in white and golden it was making him sick.

He descended among the first, just to take part into a ramble.

"Isn't this ship flying without the holy magic of founder Brimir?" yelled an officer towards Professor Colbert.

"It's just steam, and wind stones are still used, albeit in a minor quantity"

"This is nearly heretical" replied the officer. At those words Tiffania held her hat, which was used to hide her ears, more strongly, but the officer noticed, and added:

"Hey you! The hat. Remove it" Cog nodded at Tabitha, and then moved forward.

The officer found himself blocked from Tiffania's view by a black haired man, whose eyes were a dark brown tint.

"No need to force yourself on such a frail lady" Cog said, the double meaning was enough to make some of the crowd start chuckling.

"I'm an official of the Romalian forces! A clergyman devoted only to founder Brimir's cause"

"Then by all means be gentle, since it's her first time being so strongly assaulted for a hat" Cog chuckled, as people among the crowd simply began laughing.

"This is…you are making fun of me!"

"By no mean, had I wanted to, I'd have used harsher words. Want to see under the hat? Fine, let us see under the hat" Cog said then, and moved towards Tiffania; Tabitha nodded slightly when Cog's eyes met her stare, and, once the hat was removed, a set of normal, round ears appeared instead of the elven pointy ones.

"Here we have it; normal ears for a normal human"

"Eh?" Tiffania was surprised.

"Fine." The official muttered before clearing them all.

Everyone, having been thoroughly trained by Cog, packed their weapons in their bags, and so they passed without problem a couple of patrols. "Just how many patrols are there in this town?" Saito muttered, since every time they were checked they had their bags opened up, and their weapon checked to make sure they were actually in their scabbards.

"Handle me with care you baboon!" yelled Derflinger, as at another patrol check, one of the knights had probably held Derflinger wrongly.

"This sword speaks!"

"You don't say! Do they teach you how to say the obvious at church!" Derflinger yelled again, as Saito moved in bowing his head repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, Derf! Stop being rude come on"

"This sword should be kept on a leash!" the knight replied throwing Derflinger with disgust on the ground.

"You son of a…church of frothy prayers! You bastard! Is this the way to treat a sword?" more curses followed, as the knight tried to take Derflinger back from Saito's hand, the boy did his best to hold onto the sword; as a result, the knight fell on the ground when Saito applied a slight bit of strength more.

"I'm sorry! Really!"

"Sorry is not going to cut it!" the rest of the patrol soon caught up to the knight.

"You are coming in for questioning!"

Cog slightly coughed at those words, making his way towards Saito's side. Surprisingly, Louise was approaching too.

"Listen you! We are here under…hey!" Louise mouth was shot quickly by one of Cog's hand.

"Want to settle this?" Cog commented getting straight in front of the knights.

"You wear the mantle of a noble! We are paladins! The best trained protectors of his Holiness, we do not duel when we are right!" one of them angrily retorted, lifting his right hand.

"You said Paladin?" Cog asked curiously.

"Who are you not to know us? You are all definitely suspicious, you will face trial now!" the paladin yelled, but was cut short by a quick punch to the jab, which sent him on the floor, holding his face.

"Pathetical. A real paladin would have dodged that" Cog commented. Saito's brain connected a thought; hadn't Cog talked about paladins too? Maybe it was just a chance, wasn't it?

The group seven paladins lifted their wands ready, as the students did the same on the other side.

Cog lifted his right hand slowly. "No need, I'll take care to trash them a bit" and then flicked his wrist, signal to move on.

"What ma…" but really, who'd let someone finish a sentence in a fight? The next moment Cog charged straight through, and ended up in the middle of them.

"Too easy" he grinned, as his right leg spoon forward in a right kick; as the paladin lifted his arm in protection, Cog twisted his feet and shifted his gravity center, spinning upwards and throwing a left elbow hit against another paladin's face, while using his right hand to hit the paladin opposite of him in the face, breaking the nose.

As he landed on his palms, his left leg kicked backwards, as his arm's muscles pushed against the ground, once his heels brought down the paladin he had previously kicked, he jumped right fist forward against the one in front of him, taking him down with a left hit straight in the balls.

As he crumbled down, moaning in pain, the three remaining paladins held their staffs ready, as a strange colored blade emerged from their tips.

"Oh, nice trick; wait…maybe I can do it too" Cog replied with a gentle smile, as he quickly tried grabbing one of the fallen paladins' staffs. The remaining three wouldn't let him, charging through, Cog simply got down on his knees, and when the three colored blades fell down, they were met by another one; one black as a raven's wing.

Lifting the staff with ease, and throwing the three paladins on their guards, Cog mused over his discovery.

"Seems like it's easier to handle and to use" he lifted his right hand in a fighting stance. It was the first time the Commander actually was seen wielding a sword. Usually he had trained the Ondine corps with hand to hand basics, or had left it to Saito. Saito too had seen Cog fight with a sword rarely, and even then, as a glimpse during the battlefield of Rosais, though the fact that his strength was not human was already known to him, seeing how much weight he could actually carry around. Cog moved forward, aiming at the one to the right with a broad swing, which however turned out to be a feint, as the right one moved into a parrying position, the one on the middle attempted to pierce him, so when Cog swiftly sidestepped to the side, he found himself wide open to a left sided attack, which was delivered with a punch. Rotating the sword, the handle of it hit strongly onto the right guard's head, before moving to parry the hit the left one was trying, seeing how the central one had fallen down.

The paladin left alone tried his best, deciding it would either destroy the demon now with a flurry of hits or be knocked out cold like the others, Cog effortlessly made a step backwards and just when the paladin tried a broadside swing, he carefully changed his own sword angle and then pierced. It was like Saito's move on Agnes, the paladin's sword however, which was actually a wooden staff with a sort of magical blade, was cut in half. The black blade soon found itself accustomed to the skin of the paladin neck.

"Now leave. Harass one of my soldiers again and I will show no mercy" the paladin began running.

"You! What were you thinking?" to speak these words had been Professor Colbert, mouth agape.

"Nothing; except maybe protecting my men… Move it people, we're heading straight to the Cathedral. Sooner we reach it sooner the situation will be cleared" Tabitha and Guiche nodded, while Louise looked at how Saito's eyes were already back on the road ahead of them. She bit her lip, she had hoped to show off her own power; instead Cog had given another one of his bloody and messy shows, topping it off with strict commands. She shook her head, she couldn't give up now. Soon they would meet with the princess.

Queen Henrietta was waiting in the cathedral, together with the Pope, Vittorio, and Agnes, who, albeit dressed as a court lady, still had her fierce glare on her. A paladin, badly bruised and with a broken nose, entered the cathedral hurriedly, and kneeled down in front of the pope.

"Your holiness! Suspicious people are making their way over here…" but he couldn't finish, because the door opened, and two paladins flew in, not because they wanted to, but because they were thrown inside and on the ground.

"Now, would someone, kindly, tell these baboons to stop their idiocy? I'm getting tired of this" Saito commented, as he entered, putting in the meantime Derflinger back into the scabbard.

"As I was telling you, Saito, you should put more weight behind the blows, look: that one managed to run here on his legs" Cog, who stood next to him, commented, pointing out at the paladin with the broken nose.

Henrietta paled, as the Pope looked surprised, while a boy dressed in purples and white, a certain Julio Chesare, had taken to his sword.

"Saito, as in Chevalier Saito Hiragana des Ondine?" the pope asked curiously.

Saito nodded, "Yes. We would have arrived sooner, but your men here kept on pestering about suspicious, strange and the like, we had to make our way by force since all they could talk about was *trial*."

"I see. Then this is all a terrible misunderstanding. Please Carlo, go and warn the other paladins to desist. These here are my guests" the pope said then, to the paladin with the broken nose who nodded, and left in a hurry, shooting an angry glance at both Cog and Saito.

Behind them Louise entered too, looking with an embarrassed face at Henrietta, how could she justify what had happened? Well, the line of broken, fainted, or otherwise knocked out paladin from Cittadella's port to here was a bit difficult to explain.

"Presentations are in order, aren't they?" Cog said with a smile, looking straight at the pope, breaking off the awkward silence.

"I suppose they are; I would be the Pope Vittorio, Vittorio for short" the pope replied, looking at those two it would seem they were already becoming friends.

"I am Chevalier Cog de la Lily, Duke Des Ondine" Cog replied with a slight head bow, having all the land of the corps under his name being him the Commander, he actually *was* given the title of duke.

"I am Chevalier Saito de Hiraga Marquis des Ondine" Saito said, bowing slightly too, being the vice commander, he was slightly under the Duke.

Then Saito looked at Louise who stood in shock for a moment. A duke and a marquis! When! How! What!

"I…I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière" she meekly said.

"You have no shame. No control. You would be the worst nightmare of a diplomat" Henrietta began saying with her eyes blazing fury and badly repressed anger, as she was speaking she slowly moved towards Cog, who, on the other hand, stayed still. The pope stopped Henrietta however, waving a hand.

"It doesn't matter; this will make things livelier over the course of dinner."

-Crap- thought Saito and Louise.

"Are…" Cog had already began lifting an eyebrow, querying about who he thought he was, except being this so called *pope* thing, to shut his sister up, when Saito loudly exclaimed:

"HEY! Cog! Yeah, Dinner! Right, dinner! We could all use dinner."

Louise nodded too, moving quickly closer to the Queen and the Pope.

"Saito, there is no need to yell, I was…" Cog tried to say hushing down the panicking Saito.

Louise managed to whisper in a pleading tone to the pope:

"Please your Holiness, I'm deeply sorry, but he's got a sort of horrible sister complex. Really, horrible and wicked, if you talk down on her Majesty he's going to snap. He nearly snapped in two my father; please I beg of you, find mercy on this mad…"

Chesare's face was one of pure disbelief, who were these people thinking they were addressing?

"Saito, as I was saying, I just want to make a couple of things clear…" Cog replied waving his hand to dismiss Saito.

The pope smiled to Louise, and waited the question, Henrietta outright fainted in Agnes' arms.

"Are you free after dinner for a confession? I also have faith questions I'd like to ask directly if possible" Cog asked gently. The pope chuckled at that, nodding with a pleased face.

"Certainly, it would be a pleasure"

The look on everyone's face except the pope's was priceless.

Dinner went by silently, as Tiffania, Cog, Saito, Louise, Henrietta, Agnes, Julio and the Pope ate in a room separated from the rest of the Ondine Knights. Cog was the first to fill the tension in the room and he sighed. "So, what's the reason for all this stress?" he queried, seconds later a kick on the right leg made him wince, as Henrietta had casually sat in front of him, and had kicked him and eyed him pretty badly. "Stress?" the pope Vittorio Severare, St. Aegis the 32nd, was puzzled by such a word.

"Well, all I received in the letter was the order to bring us plus the corps here. So, whatever it is, it's not pretty, and certainly you aren't expecting me to buy the *It's nice to have dinner with friends* thing. First off, you and that boy are ticking me off. He ain't no normal paladin, and he ain't no bodyguard, because you already have the paladins for it; so he's someone close, furthermore in this room there is also Tiffania, which you wouldn't have invited otherwise unless someone here spoke of her being a Void user, right?" with that said, he returned Henrietta's stare. "So all things considered, it's a void related matter. That guy over there is the Romalia's void mage? However since he doesn't seem to have a wand…is he the Romalia's void mage familiar? And if such a thing is true…" with that said he smiled, looking at the pope. "You must be the Romalia's void mage."

The pope clapped his hands, impressed, genuinely or not was a mystery however.

"I wouldn't have expected less from the infamous demon of Tristain" the pope replied with a smile.

"Your sister, however, will explain better" Vittorio added, carefully using the word *sister* and not *half-sister*, probably because someone had told him before.

Henrietta explained the pope's plan; everyone's eyes bulked at the mention of fighting the elves for the holy land, the only one who wasn't surprised at all was actually Cog, he simply was staring at Henrietta's mouth, which was spouting nonsense, one word after the other, and thinking wherever she needed training too.

Then, the pope spoke once more:

"We are already possessing three familiars, three users and two rings…" Julio whispered then something into Vittorio's ears. "Three rings. We are already near to completing the prophecy" he added then, with a wide smile.

"So, do you want to know what will actually happen?" Cog queried, looking at the rest of the people sitting at the table. Henrietta felt uneasy, her brother's tone of voice wasn't angry, but neither was it normal for him to make a rhetoric question; she was afraid of the answer.

"You sound so certain you know the outcome, is it perhaps a Demon's ability, to know the future?" Julio muttered back.

"No, but let me tell you what will actually happen: the elves, having no other place to go, will keep staying where they are, forget reclaiming the holy lands, they won't budge. So, it will become a war of attrition until one loses its cool: from there, escalation will bring to total destruction. In the end you'll have charred remains of cities on both sides, people dead everywhere, and the question you will ask yourself while kneeling in front of the rubble will be *Why?* " Cog spoke slowly, as his eyes were likely recalling an event from his past. Saito thought about the Cold war, that didn't escalate, but it also didn't solve the problem.

"Yes, I'm with Cog on this one" Saito said. "From where I come from, two great powers fought for influence and control, but neither achieved anything, so in the end they entered attrition until internal strife brought one of the two down"

"I see…but we must never the less reclaim what is rightfully ours: Halkeginia has bled for thousands of years since the holy lands have been claimed by the Elves. We wish to speak with them, and be diplomatic with them" the pope added, a bit uneasy.

"You could do the same with a messenger and a white flag: you don't because you are chained by your convictions that they will simply kill the messenger, fear guides your hand, not faith" Cog replied slowly; to this statement, Julio stood up sword in hand, while Henrietta gasped.

"You are stating His Holiness lacks faith!" Julio exclaimed. "This is Heresy!"

"Julio, please, put down your weapon" Vittorio said.

"But, your Holiness…"

"Put it down, we are among civil beings"

"Yes your Holiness" Julio bitterly put back in the scabbard his sword, before sitting back down, but he did eye badly Cog.

"Maybe you are right, Chevalier Cog, maybe fear guided my hands, but it was fear of losing more lives to senseless conflicts, we can't stand by and watch things unfold, and the elves certainly won't bargain without reason"

"So it won't matter to kill some elves to prove a point, right?" Saito asked, barging in the conversation.

"You wish to threaten them sword in hand, instead of talking to them." He added.

"If there is one thing I discovered, is that I have to make choice on who to save, and being the Pope of Romalia, pleads of the pilgrims must come first" the pope replied slowly.

Cog gritted his teethes, there were enough wrong things in this pope's statements to make him fly in a blind rage, but he had to keep his cool, since Henrietta had just finished massaging his right leg with kicks once more. "I understand it perfectly. The will of the few worthy must defeat the will of the many" Cog replied with a smile. It sounded so much an indirect attack and an ironic statement that his left leg too began being hit. The pope however nodded.

"I am glad you understand. Now we must prepare a plan for the Gallian's void user. King Joseph will certainly send him together with his familiar, once he hears there are the remaining void users in Romalia, attending a ceremony"

"Bait eh? You want to convince him to bite on, so you'll have an excuse to declare war on Gallia, by using a religious event which will lead everyone else to oppose that country" the surprising fact was that saying these words hadn't been Cog, but Saito.

"Precisely…did the Black Demon train you?" the pope asked curiously.

"Cog did, and he's worse than a Demon when it comes to training" Saito replied.

Louise clenched her fists, "But we can't be sure it's going to work!" she muttered, "What if we are de…" but then realized that Cog was in the room, he literally walked over an entire regiment of paladins getting till there, they would actually be fine.

"I will be bait too; I have made sure words in Gallia of me being a Void user were delivered" the pope said.

"Good, then let's do this" Saito said, nodding.

Agnes and Colbert met outside of the pope's office. Both seemed to be there for a reason, as the door of the office opened, they saw Cog walking outside whistling, and looking at them, he whispered "I'd wait to go inside; giving sad news isn't my forte" before leaving them in front of a slightly open door. They both looked at each other, and then Colbert slowly crept open the door to look inside for a second, and then closed it, to the surprise of Agnes.

"What happened?" she whispered to the Professor.

"The Pope is…crying" Colbert replied, and with that, they both began running to grab Cog, who had already disappeared from sight.

"Louise, what's the problem?" Saito asked the pink haired girl, who was uneasily looking at her feet, as they were both walking back to their respective rooms.

"I…I need to talk to you" Louise replied, reddening, as she opened the door of her room "In private" she added.

-Cute- Saito thought as he entered. Louise closed the door behind them, locking it.

-Huh? Wait- Saito was perplexed as Louise flung herself into his arms.

"Idiot! Stupid! What if something happens to you eh! You are going to be the one doing the fight aren't you! And you are no longer a Gandalfr! You're going to die!" Louise was…worried about him? While this made his chest feel bigger, it also made him slightly happy.

"Louise, there is no need to worry, Cog says I'm as strong as a Gandalfr now thanks to his training" he tried to calm her, but touched the wrong subject.

"Cog this and Cog that! Stop speaking about him!" she pouted, "Speak about me for once!"

"Well…You have nice hair?" he hazarded as a guess for a compliment.

Louise kicked him on the knee, standing up back again.

"Nice hair? Only that? Eleonore gets more compliments than me, can't you do better!"  
"You are…" –Don't say small and cute, don't say it-

"Cute" Saito bit his tongue hard, but it was too late.

"Cute eh? Only that? Say more"

"You're pretty" he blurted out once more. He had to ask tips from Cog about compliments.

"I see…only this eh?" she got closer, again.

"Well, it's not like I can find more…"

"More what? Reasons I'm cute, reasons you like me? I act cute and nice for you and all you can say is this? Nice hair, cute and pretty? Really, what am I worrying for, you'd probably die alone if it weren't for me; you know what? You should just die if you can't find anything better than this." She had intended to simply say some harsh words to him, to pout a bit and get some sort of attention, like Montmorency with Guiche. Instead as she had turned her head in disdain she felt a sort of, well, strong crack, followed by drops of something warm on her left cheek.

Turning her face she stared in shock as a clawed, Black Hand pierced right through Saito's chest, and Saito's face was so shocked that it still didn't register the fact: he mumbled something, but all Louise could do was stare, stare and be scared, because in front of her stood Cog, at least, what she thought was Cog, when he was faking being a demon, and it had just killed Saito, and then, the thing spoke;

"I am Gandalfr. I am the sword that protects the master, and the spear that pierces the master's enemy. I obey the master's orders. What is my next order master?" Louise fell down on her knees hearing that, and as tears flew down her cheeks she screamed in a broken voice.

"No! I didn't want him to die! Saito…please…save him" as tears began rolling down the girl's cheeks the Thing nodded.

"Trauma mode, Initiated" then the thing melted off, as the puddle of black things which seemed to compose the demon moved on top of Saito, and inside of Saito. For a moment, Louise had no idea what had happened, maybe it was a dream.

Then Saito opened his eyes, slowly.

"What…what happened?" he whispered, seeing his chest was intact, but a hole the size of a hand was on all of his clothes.

"Saito!" Louise screamed, holding him tightly which made Saito scream in pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Louise said jumping a bit backwards, and as she began crying her heart out, something, in the back of Saito's head, spoke.

-I am Gandalfr, AI routine two-two-nine, previously assigned to Commander of Genocide 578639, new assignment to Master Louise Vallière le Blanc de la Françoise. Heart and ribs repair will now begin-

Saito felt a set of sharp pains, before it simply became unbearable, and his brain, in order to avoid any more shock, opted to give him the blessing of fainting.

"So this *is* interesting, I must admit" Cog said, looking at the hidden underground vault, as big as two churches, in the most hidden spot of the Cathedral; escaping from any possible consequence, especially those of Professor Colbert and Agnes, and from his sister's kicks too. There were pretty old guns in here; the reason for the sturdy metal door, which still stood no chance, once its hinges were removed thanks to a golden candle-holder. "These are clearly world war two or previous ones. There's got to be something more recent" many of those were in pieces, a few were actually useful but too old for his tastes, and he killed faster barehanded anyway. As he reached towards the end, he removed a heavy clothing, which seemed to obscure a "Tank. A panzer. This is a panzer. They've got a panzer under a church of good faith; kind like the religions of peace and friendship which then asks for war and death. Good old hypocrisy." But he didn't stop at that heavy piece of old war machine. He went towards a slight glimmer, at the end of the room; laid against the wall was a strange metallic trunk. It stood close, albeit attempts at opening it were clear because of traces of sharp and blunt weapons. Still, except a few dents, it had remained close. Moving closer to it himself, Cog placed his hand onto the trunk.

"Sin Nakkar Varsun Gherzunt- What one wants to hear the most; Nakkar Sin Gherzunt Varsun – The thing most want to hear" and as the specific words finally reached the slumbering sub-routine in the trunk, it opened. "Be praised the Original!" was all that Cog muttered, seeing the contents for himself.


	21. Chapter 21: Beginning again

Chapter Twenty-one

"_When life gives you lemon, you can make lemonade. Or you can use the lemon's natural electrostatic nature to ignite a lemon-bomb to raze down a city, so, the gist of it is that everything is a weapon, wherever you know it or not. Learn how to blow up lemons with lemons." Ancient Engineer Class saying: referring to an old course subject no longer used after the accidents at the local canteens. _

"So, as I was saying, it was all a simple exchange of ideas" Cog pointed out, as he had finally been driven to a corner by both Agnes and Colbert, the dead end corridor of the Cathedral only had a wooden door to the left side of the wall and a high above colored window with some sort of religious themed drawing of a dove and a branch.

"The pope was crying" Colbert replied "Just what did you tell him?" he hadn't his wand with him; unluckily the disarming meant that nobles would have their wands confiscated. He did however manage to get ahold of a wooden stick.

"I might have spoken a bit about some famous philosophers of my country…and their views on God and the like"

"That would make her Holiness cry?" Agnes queried skeptical, she on the other hand was thinking about the dagger hidden on her thigh, and if taking it out in the open to gut the half-brother of the queen would be treason, or justice served late.

"Well, these guys I spoke of did bring pretty compelling arguments to the non-existence of God" with that said Cog whistled trying to open the door to his left. Both Colbert and Agnes charged forward, but too slow for the Commander of Genocide, who closing the door behind him, reached for the room's window and jumped straight out, falling a couple of stores of height and crash landing on some tree branches.

Bruised but alive, he slowly made his way towards the nearest Romalian bar. He had a feeling he'd better not be in the Cathedral for the next hours, "Next time, I attack with Nietzsche, that guy always ends the fights" he muttered, as the first bar he found was a pretty simple one, where commoners were drinking. They stopped however, after seeing the student mantle on Cog's back, this probably wasn't a place Nobles were meant to frequent, usually. He sat down in front of the patron, and raising a three fingers, he said "Strongest thing you got: thrice of it" he had vowed to cut down on alcohol. He could actually hear his youngest daughter saying something like:

"It's like poison for you, father. You should stop" the voice always tended to be a bit chirpy. How she managed to keep the chirpy voice after her deployment on the field had always been a show of her strong will. He kind of wondered how they were faring. *Mary* hadn't said anything about the rest of them, not that he would have asked. It was a tacit thing between members of the military: nobody had to tell, you had to see with your own eyes the K.I.A, the M.I.A or the deployment ending time.

He took the metal jug with his right hand, and looked at the contents; at most, it would have been twelve degrees.

"This is red wine" he commented.

"This holy country frowns upon the use of strong spirits" the patron muttered in excuse, only to hear his guest sigh in disappointment.

"I ain't asking for a gut-ripper or a brain-hemorrhage" Cog sighed "But a Whiskey, a Scotch? A good old Vodka bottle? Come on, Vodka is made from potatoes, it's like a vegetable juice!" that excuse never worked. Not even with his youngest.

"I am sorry Sir, red Wine is the strongest thing I can serve" the patron replied.

Cog paid for the wine, and asked for the bottle then.

"You shouldn't drink so much, mister" a chirpy voice said next to him. A boy with blond hair and blue eyes was looking straight at him. He wore the kind of clothes of a yet to be ordained priest, and had a small golden tipped staff.

"Do you usually bugger people who are drinking?" –At least, trying to? Considering my liver won't feel anything unless it's at least forty degrees-

"Sir…I am a soon to be ordained priest of Romalia, it is my duty to guide the lost lambs back to the …"

"If you compare me to a lamb, I'll compare you to a mosquito, and you won't like how I'll end the sentence" Cog replied staring at him strongly. The boy was taken aback but quickly began chanting prayers and psalms.

"Poor man who has lost his faith, what has stricken you so much?" his tone grew saddened as he asked that.

"I…" Cog was about to retort when the door was flung open and a couple of paladins came rushing in.

"The Duke Chevaliers Cog de la Lily des Ondines is immediately requested at the cathedral by the will of his Holiness!" –The name keeps getting longer and longer- Cog he bitterly thought.

The boy on the other hand widened his eyes, but those eyes showed not only surprise, but also a glint of something else; a glint of hate.

–Interesting- Cog thought as he stood up and moved towards the paladins, with whom he then left, while the sun began rising up for its usual circle around the earth.

Saito had woken up, surrounded by blurry faces. His eyes seemed to lose and gain focus every now and then, as he heard distant voices, then closer, then distant again in his ears. He was standing however, which seemed strange, hadn't he fainted? He also realized he couldn't move his body like he wanted to; it felt heavy. At the same time, every now and then, sprouts of pain left the place to moments of pure bliss. Fits of anger and sadness intertwined themselves with jealousy and fear, he was feeling emotions run down his entire body, he could see flickers of words running around his eyes, he could hear and read his own thoughts.

"Saito…Saito…" he heard from a blurry face with violet fuzziness all around her.

"Ahah…you look like a jellybean. A violet Jellybean" Saito replied with a stupid grin on his face and a happy smile.

"Saito!" this time the voice was a bit angrier, and it came from a strange pink rectangle to his left.

"Wow…mister Geometry figure, calm down…"

-Readjusting parameters- the voice sung in his head like a headache, making Saito scream in pain as his hands moved on their own accord to grab his head, as his knees fell down on the pavement. He would have surely fallen down on his knees by the pain on his own, but instead, someone had done it for him.

He could feel a wave of nausea hit him, as he puked the dinner and a hefty dose of bile on the floor.

"He's sick! Your majesty can't…"

"I don't…"

"Where is…"

"Overwrite code Three-two-Nine!" snapped a voice pretty close to Saito.

-Overwrite code accepted, manual adjustment initializing- then Saito's vision became blank. Only, it wasn't blank. After a while a set of black lines appeared, forming a sort of face. It peered at him, and then the lines became circles, or squares, and then a face, a human face, appeared.

It had clear grey eyes, and white hair, wrinkles and eye-bags made it look old, yet it still had strength, gushing out from every pore of that giant form, which gazed at him. He felt small. So small and insignificant, he knew the face was powerful, he knew it had everything, and could do anything, he knew that the face knew that too, and that it knew everything. Saito kneeled to the face, and the face spoke.

"Hello there, young one. You are not one of my children, are you?" the question was asked with a gentle tone, a small smile on that face, the feeling of his heart melting under such a gentleness was great, Saito couldn't do anything but smile dumbly, taking in that face, until he realized that he had to answer.

"No…I…I don't know how I ended here" he muttered, embarrassed to not know something. The face knew however, even though it asked, it already knew.

"I see. Well, it seems one of my children is being unruly. I apologize for the harm he caused" memories flew in Saito, about the clawed hand, the broken ribs, the pain; the feeling of his emotions swiftly changing, the nausea and the rest all flowed into him.

"You must be wondering" the face added slowly, looking at Saito, "Though you already give answers to your questions, I feel it would help you to ask them never the less".

"…Who are you?" Saito whispered.

"The Original" the face replied with a smile, before adding "Now don't tell me you were hoping for some sort of demonic entity made of pure darkness and chaos, I'd feel offended" Saito's stare turned to the white ground underneath him, well, he had actually thought that anyone who was a god to Cog had to be more demonic than the Commander of Genocide himself.

"I'm…sorry…" Saito whispered.

"Of what, child?" the Original asked.

"I caused problems for Cog…he was wounded because of me…he must hate me, that's why he tried to kill me"

"You need not excuse yourself, child. Let me lift your heart from a misunderstanding: the One you call Cog and I call one of my Children, and the one who tried to kill you, which I still call one of my Children, are not the same person, the same thing, nor harbor the same thoughts." The face grew saddened, at the thought.

"That child is not his normal self. He harbors thoughts of servitude and of blind follow; he does not chose, instead he obeys blindly. My other children will arrive eventually; they will free him and take you and the other child back. The new child will soon come too. Tell the one you know as Cog that all is well, and I am proud…as I am proud of you, my new child" with those words, the face kind of nodded, and then Saito came back to his senses, gasping for air.

He was on the floor of one of the cathedral's wide rooms; gazing upwards he could see a sweating Cog who had just sighed in relief. Next to him was a worried Henrietta and Louise, there also were a perplexed Julio and a kind of nervous Pope, Agnes and Colbert were in a corner of the room, nervous too. The source of their nervousness was Cog's demonic armor, which was standing of its own near Louise, silently.

"Calm now boy. Take deep breathes. Deep breathes." Cog murmured slowly, as Saito found himself breathing in strange smells, like incense, from a candle lit and then muzzled the night before, the perfume of violets coming from Henrietta's air, the odor of sweat, from Professor Colbert's bald head, the smell of gunpowder, from Agnes' gun, a thick smell of blood from the armor, and he could hear the clanking of metal in the corridor beyond the room, the prayers hushed in another and the chirping of birds from outside. He could see the tiny cracks on the walls and the rust cleverly hidden by strong polishes on the golden instruments littering the room. He could feel with the tip of his hands the dust of the floor.

"Now, you should probably feel like you have been hit by a missile, then reborn in heaven, but soon, trust me, you will feel hell" Cog whispered once more, before touching both of Saito's temples, the one on the right, and the one on the left.

-You can hear me, can you? - Saito was shocked in feeling another voice inside his head. –Yeah, I suppose it would be a shock. It takes training to do this, think of it like a secret way to give out precious info- Cog was smiling slightly. –There is no need to try and communicate back, as I said before, it takes training. Anyway, I'm done checking on you- Removing his hands from Saito's head, Cog sighed.

"Is he going to be fine, brother?" Henrietta asked worriedly, Louise was simply too scared to even speak.

"Yes. Thankfully someone did train his body" Cog was sarcastic, even a bit caustic "Because otherwise, he'd be dead. Dead or even worst, enslaved to a rampant Ai who just seems to have lost its common sense!" his stare was all for the armor, who did not reply.

Saito tried to mutter something, but Cog snapped back immediately.  
"And don't you dare talk soldier! You got your heart nearly ripped out! Furthermore, you risked becoming a mere brain dead puppet! Thank your lucky star you had an Elite nearby! We are the only one with Overwrite codes and ability!" Cog then looked quite angrily at Professor Colbert and Agnes.

"You two! If you've got time to be nervous, move your asses and go find me a chair!"

He then looked at Henrietta.

"If you have the time to fidget, move your damn wand over here and levitate this idiot!"

Finally, as everyone started moving, he looked at Louise lastly, who had kind of made a motion to move near Saito's side, but had stopped because of Cog's fierce glare.

"Listen carefully" Cog's death glare, and his gentle voice were complete opposite, it was like he was straining himself not to yell at her. "I will keep it simple: that demon over there is, by some sort of sick joke, under your control. It has in-built defenses, made to protect the owner from harm and threats, which mean that every word you say, will be considered as a command by him in the most literal way you can think of, so, if you want to say anything, don't."

Henrietta finished casting the levitate spell on Saito, and then dutifully followed Cog who had started pushing him gently outside, and, once the chair got there, he made Saito sit on it.

Being outside felt strange. Saito, closing his eyes, could feel things moving all inside him; he could feel his stomach actually producing acid to digest the remains of the dinner, he could feel the blood gush forward with oxygen, and he could even feel his pores dilating more, reacting to the sun and the cool morning breeze, opening up to allow for more air to flow through. His heart began pumping more rhythmically, he could feel blocks of something move towards his heart, and then from it, all around. His air grew a good three to four inches, and finally, he opened his eyes again.

"This feels great" he murmured.

"Yeah. Wait till you feel a broken bone" Cog replied with a smirk.

"So…what is going on?" Saito asked the question which many, actually, had in their minds right then.

"Well, by some gist of twisted and sadistic fate, my Nanite armor has gone worse than rogue: she has gone mad. Now she thinks she is Gandalfr, and so she will obey Louise."

"She?" Saito asked.

"Ai's choose their own sex if they need to, usually they don't, she decided to be a she; never make the mistake of using *it* on a rogue Ai, never" Cog replied eyeing the Ai, who had silently followed Louise till there.

"Stop following me!" Louise bitterly told her.

"No." the Ai replied.

"Stop it! Deactivate!"

"No. Orders refused. Protecting the Owner has priority" the Ai replied with a dark, gruff voice.

Saito looked at the scene puzzled.

"Someone I met…told me to say something…" he muttered.

"Yes? What did it say?" Cog was curious. The fact he actually showed the curious face made everyone else curious too.

Saito tried to recall it, and realized it came to him easily; it was like watching a film in the back of his head, so he actually repeated every single line.

"The Original?" queried Colbert. Julio too was curious, as was the pope Vittorio.

Cog sighed, before scratching his head.

"Seems like I've got myself a brother now. Welcome to the Dystopian Empire, and to the family. Wherever you like it or not, you've got rearranged genetically. A 100% Dystopian pup." Then he finished the sentence with a loud laughter.

"Who cares! I've got myself a little brother! Finally I can kiss goodbye to being dead-last in the family male branch!" he then proceeded to grab a hold of Saito, and hug him like a bear would hug a tree. Saito gasped as a strong pain in his chest made him see the stars for a second, but then was left to stand on his own feet.

"Can't you explain it better? What's the hell is going on?" Julio snapped. He wasn't getting any sense out of this. Henrietta instead nodded, looking warmly, if a bit with a glint of sadness, at Saito.

"I can explain. Brother told me already: there is this sort of written code inside each of us, that tells what we are, how we will grow old, what sicknesses we might have, and practically decides why we have five fingers instead of ten per hand, and why we have two eyes and not four or ten. It explains why women bear children and men have bigger muscles. When you enter the Dystopia, the empire my brother comes from, your Dna, the written code, is re-written to become the best you could possibly achieve, it basically gives always the best possible outcome instead of what nature had decided at the moment of birth, to grant you."

Julio was obviously bewildered: this was going against god himself!

"This is worse than blasphemy…it's an empire of heretics" he muttered.

"No. It is not heresy, nor blasphemy, Julio…you need to speak with Cog, just for five minutes" the pope himself said that, looking with saddened eyes at Julio, who stared back surprised. "After those five minutes, you will face a tremendous shock, but then you will realize the truth. God is but a strength humanity calls to in moment of great peril and grief, but it is not sentient like churches and faiths want us to believe. The writings are wrong, Julio" Julio couldn't believe it, as couldn't believe it everyone else.

"Your Holiness…what has become of you…the demon has corrupted you…the demon's corruption is strong! I will hear no more from you!" the last sentence was told to Cog, as Julio grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out, ready to strike.

"Julio! Stop!" Vittorio exclaimed, Henrietta too began moving her wand, but it was too late, Julio charged forward, sword in hand, and pierced straight through Cog who, strangely, had decided not to dodge.

He could have, mind you, he had dozens of seconds to do so, but he simply didn't.

The rapier pierced straight through Cog and Julio stared in disbelief as red blood seeped through the wound.

"Look at my blood. It's red. Yours is too" Cog whispered. "Face the fact that reality is but a well written lie. Face the fact that God is not the one you speak of, the one you kill for, face the fact the deaths you caused were done…because of lies and ruses" as Cog finished whispering in Julio's ear, he hit him on the side, sending him on the ground yelling because of the pain.

"Have someone heal him." Cog muttered, removing the rapier without as much as flinching.

"First lesson: Piercing weapons are nearly useless on us, Saito. Our blood clots quickly, thus unless major organs are hit, we can as well survive anything pointy. It still hurts, but you will learn to ignore the pain."

Julio was brought in a private room by Agnes and Colbert, the pope followed too, clearly worried, while Cog said:

"Ann, do me a favor and go inside please." Henrietta was about to protest, but after looking at Cog's face she nodded and left, and only Saito, Cog, Louise and the She-Ai, remained.

Louise kept her gaze down at the dirt and rocks which made the terrain of the nearby square they were in, she knew this moment would come. Now Cog would rip her to shred and he'd be right, he'd be completely right because she was the one who had hurt Saito the most. Slowly she started sobbing, and tears began falling down along her cheeks. Cog on the other hand stood silent, looking at Saito with a puzzled look.

"I…she didn't do it on purpose" Saito tried to say in her defense.

"I know." Cog replied nodding.

"You know?" Saito asked perplexed.

"Obviously had she wanted to kill you, she wouldn't have asked her to keep you alive afterwards" pointing at She-Ai.

"What is it…are you going to strangle me…like you nearly strangled elder sister Eleonore? If so please be quick…" Louise muttered, tears still flowing.

"Oh stop crying! I am not going against a Nanite sentient armor to kill a crying child. You heard Saito, you heard him speak the words of the Original; First fleet is probably coming armed to the teethes, it's going to be their problem. I am on *vacation* I have always been on *Vacation*." He ironically quoted with his fingers the term *Vacation*.

"Elite 578639 words are correct. First fleet will arrive eventually and decide on the matter. Possibility that this world will be purged is at 13%" the She-Ai spoke slowly.

"13%?" Saito queried puzzled.

"With the presence of Ai-Altering chances, biological sentient weaponry, and stealth field, this is probably an old testing world of some unknown alien race. Usually they would be marked as a 100% Purge chance. The presence of a half-breed however reduces it by 73%, the acceptance of the Empire existence and the will to merge reduces it by another 2%, and the presence of newly born Child of the Original reduces it by 12% percent again" the Ai spoke again.

"Don't tell me…you can actually say anything without repercussions?" Cog had a worried look on his face.

"Yes." The Ai replied.

"This is far more horrible than I thought" Cog muttered as he began thinking rapidly.

"Hey, what does it mean?" Louise asked.

"Knowledge of determined things may increase or reduce the purge chance. Actually bringing it towards negative numbers. Furthermore, many things might never be told at all, while they would actually provide more insight on the Empire. Many classified information, or too shocking information to be revealed depending on the individual, are freely accessible as long as asked by an authorized user like you, owner"

"Don't do it girl." Cog said looking at Louise with an evil stare.

"Why shouldn't I? You can't stop me" she replied, puffing her cheeks like a spoiled children.

"Louise…please don't…nobody is angry at you…there is no need to make things worse again" Saito said, trying to reassure her, getting closer to her.

"Saito…I could save the planet from a probable purge…you know what it means" the thought of being a heroine, of saving everyone, was hard to pass by.

"You'd condemn it instead" Cog replied, "And it would be horrible. Trust me I've seen a few purges to know the subject pretty well." The last part was said bitterly.

Louise clenched her fists, and then sighed.

"Ai…Can you reinsert the repercussions for speaking?"

"Yes."

"Do it"

"Done"

Then Louise sighed and ran to embrace Saito, crying. Saito simply held her close to him, gently caressing her hair. Cog on the other hand sighed. –This is more and more like a Stockholm syndrome than like love- not that it mattered much; after all, he had other things to worry about.

*Elsewhere*

"Father" a voice asked removing a rock with its hands. "Father not found" the rock was thrown further down the road. The strangely armored figure wore a black helmet, and as it moved through the not trafficked road in the forest, it kept grabbing the rock and lifting it up, repeating those words. Father would be found certainly. He wasn't one to die on this ill-forgotten rock of a planet.

"And if we find out he's been drinking" "We are going to teach him a lesson" "Because we love father" the figure said to himself. With a chirpy voice the figure started whistling a happy tune, but every now and then it would change to a funeral march.

*Elsewhere*

Sand. Sand everywhere. "Fine it's called Sahara, but this much sand was really necessary?" the voice pouted, as she crunched down with her teethes some sand that had ended up there when she had thrown herself to the ground to avoid an elf patrol. Mary was crawling her way silently, using her eyes to direct herself in order to avoid the patrols, "If only I had a cardboard box" she whispered to herself, before shaking her head "the stealth shield is better. If only it weren't so energy consuming" she muttered again. A sudden shudder took her by surprise; something was crawling on her back, so she stood very still, until it passed over her. Turning her head backwards, she managed to catch the glimpse of a snake moving on the sand. "I hate snakes. I hate sand. I hate father"

*Elsewhere*

"So once again, without a fiancé?" the Duke asked his daughter, who had been wearing a scarf and had been looking down at the carpet for a moment. Certainly she had become meeker, though it seemed more about something worrying her, than anything else.

"Eleonore, dear, would you remove your scarf?" the Duchess asked her daughter, inquisitively.

Eleonore's eyes shot upwards in surprise, but then she whispered:

"I have a sore throat mother…I'm sorry"

"No need to be, just remove it for a second, it certainly won't hurt…" the Duchess insisted.

Eleonore slowly removed the scarf and the Duke's eyes bulged nearly out of their orbits.

"Eleonore! Who did this! It was him, wasn't he? Elf in disguise or not, I'm going to kill that bastard! Son of a …" the Duke had already stood up from the sofa he had been sitting on, and was searching for his sword and armor around the room.

Eleonore began crying like a fountain, some sort of emotion kept inside of her could only but gush forward now. "I'm sorry…mother, father…I'm sorry…"

"Hush Eleonore, it is not your fault, your father and I will solve the matter soon" Karin said trying to console her daughter by moving closer to her, to give her a motherly hug.

"No…it's not that…" Eleonore sobbed, through her tears.

"What is it, child?" the Duke asked worried, getting closer too.

"I still love him" and with that she cried even more.


	22. Chapter 22:Point of Interest and Arrival

**the prophet of lies: Thanks! Well, the space part was a bit to show what happened *behind the curtains* though maybe I'll rewrite it later on. **

**nekuromansa000: I always thought Eleonore to be the Tsundere type of woman, like Louise, just she grew without anyone actually showing her some *strength of character* I actually enacted the *Taming of the Shrew* method of Shakespeare. In the beginning, everything is taken as *nicely* but then, after a certain point *strong actions* are taken and the woman starts to *break up*; though yes, I too never understood the reason why woman tend to keep following guys who hit them or the like... (Cog actually wouldn't hit a woman. What he did will be explained later on)**

Chapter Twenty-two

Cog sighed with relief as everyone in the room was now much calmer than in the morning. Louise was kind of obsessively attached to Saito; her head pressed hard against his chest, like wanting to make sure his heart would actually do his job. Saito wasn't overly uncomfortable in that position, though it was unnerving that there was the Ai which had previously tried to kill him, staring at them with her six red dotted eyes and her sharp claws. Next to them was also Tiffania who looked a bit scared of the Ai, and was also in front of Henrietta, who had at her side the Pope, Cog himself was standing and moving up and down the room.

"So, let's get the Cypher over with" he muttered.

"Cypher?" Henrietta asked curiously.

"The founder's prayer book; it requires specific input from specific sources to unlock, we call those things Cyphers." He then looked at Louise:

"Mind sharing it with everyone? We might unlock new things. I kind of hope for an explanation in its pages though". Louise nodded silently, and then took out the founder's prayer book, and passed it over, around the room. The founder didn't shine when it came over to Tiffania, or when it came over to the pope. As Cog took it, however, to give it back, it began shining brightly.

"I…oh damn it all." He muttered, as he peered through the pages, repeatedly reading them as fast as he could. One page. Two pages. Three pages. Four pages. Five pages.

"Seems we've got a problem" Cog muttered closing the book.

"Which is? Where there some spells which could help us against Gallia?" the Pope asked.

"No. It's actually worse than that: this is an old laboratory world. Created thousands, and thousands of years ago to develop new types of weapon of mass destruction" like the one on Truan-8.

"Created?" Saito stared in disbelief.

"Yes. Created. It isn't difficult to create a world; and terra-form it. All you need is the correct gravity well from a nearby star. The problem lies with who actually created this world"

"Well, something tells me it wasn't your Empire" Saito said.

"True enough. I think I already told you about the Nerghulians. Well, they *were* bioweapons of their own, so someone was bound to have created them, right?"

"I do not like the sound of this" the pope meekly said.

"We called them Grehyr. They were an ancient and decadent race of strange grey things, they grew complacent of their machinery, and stopped their own evolution preferring stagnation to the unknowns of the future" Cog began speaking "In the end we met, and during the first encounter we had they deemed us unworthy, lowlifes, scums. We did not take it kindly" bitterly saying those words he saw how Henrietta had kind of a sad smile to her face.

"So you went to war with them?" Henrietta said, "How many died?" she added.

"You should give me the benefit of doubt, sister. We did not go to war with them"

Cog smiled, and then said:

"We accepted their *Benevolent rule* and let them in as our chiefs. You see, they still had advanced technology, and since they thought we were monkeys, really stupid monkeys who had no problem being ruled, they left us in peace. Most of the time. We accepted in all, but in the meantime, we began studying their technology." A smile came to Cog's lips, it was far more wicked then the one before. "Then we used it against them, tore apart their technology, their machines, their own strength became their demises, once our soldiers arrived on a world, they only had to shoot at their crawling bodies that weren't even able to lift themselves up. We destroyed and annihilated their worlds, which we knew of because they didn't mind sharing a knowledge that would do no harm to them! However…" the smile faded. "We didn't consider they would have forgotten about a couple of worlds. We found supply registers, and send in ships, we razed worlds and killed populations, yet, the more they got desperate, the more we realized they were changing their plans. Soon we came upon our first halt." Cog stopped for a second. "It was the first time their biological weaponry came into the battlefield. We did the same to survive, enhancing our own DNA till nearly nothing but the appearance gave us our humanity. Then we kept on going, tinkering with their technology; the Chronos, the Psychics, the Maulers, the Massagon, the Paladins, the World-Destroyers were all things we scavenged, we grabbed, we refitted for our purpose. Finally we advanced again: their race now on but a few worlds. Victory was at hand…and then they finished the Nerghulian project" Cog sighed.

"It was but a single spore. One. Only one. A single organism inside a glass vial. The scientist which was carrying it was shot by one of our soldiers. The spore left the glass vial…and thousands of years later, we are fighting Nerghulians, a threat so great billions of Dystopian lose their lives every day to stall or try and defeat them. So this is a Grehyr science world, and, from the look of it, they were developing biological weapons in hidden caches. The all…founder Brimir thing…was a lie to keep the control population under check and united. I don't know how to say it…but for thousands of years…the battle against the elves, against each other, against plagues and the likes…were all caused for…scientific purposes" the pope turned pale and then reached for the nearest vase, in which he proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach. Louise stood still, very still, Henrietta gasped, as tears began falling down, for no apparent reason. Saito held Louise tightly to him, kissing her forehead to calm her down.

"This is not to say that a Founder Brimir actually existed or not, it's just that the fact of a religion being based on him had been orchestrated by the Grehyr. Something however must have gone wrong" Cog added. "Probably a rebellion done by a mutated creature, or the same biological weaponry they created and that is now slumbering; it consumed the Grehyr population and then went back to sleep." The thoughts about Truan-8 lab rats and their spine-bending mind powers were quite ironical.

"So, we are the descendants of test subjects?" Vittorio Severare muttered, looking at his hands.

"If you want to put it like that, then yes. Though you can also put it in another way" Cog replied.

"Which way is there?" the pope snapped again, bewildered.

"You can think that the past is not the present and the present will not be the future." Cog replied slowly, before adding again "You need not tell the population of this; you only need to keep up the façade you have always kept, while actually knowing it is a façade. Forget about this stuff for the moment, and concentrate on the immediate dangers. There is no need of breaking one's own skull on a faraway problem, when there's a closer one around."

"These facts must be kept a secret. Had I not seen with my own eyes that thing" Pointing at the armor "And its strength, or having spoken with you, and heard your deeds, I'd have called you mad. However I am sure now…I will do the best I can to keep the Halkeginia population united and banded together in the face of every peril and every harm" with those resolute words, the pope stood up, determination blazing from his eyes. "Now, let us worry about Gallia" he added then, and everyone suddenly calmed down a good deal.

The Ondine guards were training for crowd control techniques. This meant that they were in the process of learning how to dose the strength of their magic attacks, and many had switched from their wands to staves that Guiche and Tabitha together had procured. Their armors were bound to arrive in the following three days, and then loaded on the ship which would have brought them all to Aquileia, which was the city where the ceremony in honor of Founder Brimir would be initiated. It would last for two whole weeks, of prayer, and meditation by the pope and the priests and the nuns. They hadn't seen the Commander; or the vice-commander in a while, and were starting to grow restless. So, Guiche had been tasked with looking around the cathedral, being the most high in charge and eldest of the corps. As he was finally starting to think they had disappeared in thin air, he stumbled upon Saito.

"Vice-Commander Saito! Just where have you been?" Guiche was surprised, but happy, to see his friend after a long time. As he raised his eyes upwards, wait. Did Saito actually grow an inch or two? More than that; he seemed bulkier and stronger than before, like Cog's size. Only the commander had more grace and nimbleness, Saito was overall stockier.

"It would be long to explain…Sergeant, are the troops ready?" Saito replied.

"Yes sir!" Guiche replied, standing in military salute.

"Good, we begin patrolling at 500 Am and finish at 1700 Pm, patrols are to be made of four individuals, one per platoon when possible. Sergeants should each be in a different patrol, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Strays are to come with me or Commander Cog. Understood sergeant?"

"Yes sir!"

"Then you are dismissed!" Saito gave orders with a determination that made Guiche happy to serve. It felt strange, but it was like Saito had just come out from a bath of charisma and strength.

The days passed with ease, the Ondine Guards patrolling was at its best a nice alternative to the previous Paladin's patrols, and just as they were about to leave for Aquileia, and where on the deck of the Saint Moraco, the warship used to carry the pope, a golden owl landed straight on Cog's right shoulder. Louise, who wasn't that far away on the deck of the ship, recognized it as the owl that her sister, Cattleya, usually used. Cog sighed, and took the parchment from the owl's leg, reading it slowly, as a stare of disbelief clouded his face.

"Something happened at home?" Louise asked getting closer to him, a blond haired girl with green eyes following her.

"No…read it for yourself" Cog muttered, handing the parchment over to Louise.

_The ceremony of Founder's Brimir ascension which lasts two weeks is the perfect period for couples to marry and make their vows to the founder. That is why, as the Duke and Duchess of the La Vallière family, we have found befitting to celebrate the marriage between yourself, Duke Chevalier Cog de la Lily des Ondine, brother of her Majesty Queen Henrietta, Hero of Tarbes and of Albion, and Commander of Genocide of the intergalactical Empire of the Dystopia, and our eldest daughter, Eleonore Albertine Le Blanc De La Blois De La Vallière. We hope you will soon bless the La…_

The message continued with the formalities, but two things were evident from it, since emotions of ill-repressed anger and bloodlust emanated from the parchment, the first one, was that the marriage had actually been called on as a retort attempt for Cog's way of *defusing* Eleonore. The second was that Louise's parents knew everything that Cog had told both Louise and Eleonore that same day. So, they probably already knew he had been married thrice, with the consequences of that and his age. The fact they still went with the marriage however, was something which had surprised even Cog himself. He had thought it would have been enough to give a good old scare, and close the problem with the La Vallière family, the Duchess and he had an accord about that, so they had actually decided on the course of action once the *farce* of the fiancé thing would have been to be cut off. Instead the duchess didn't follow her words through, and Cog couldn't refuse it. It would have meant having to admit to his sister that he had tricked Louise into going to war, and into betraying the *Love of a fair maiden* thing which Henrietta, her head filled with chivalries and knights, wouldn't have accepted.

"You're fu…" Louise quite actually wanted to say, but bit her tongue. This actually meant… "So Eleonore is going to be in Aquileia? What about…" but Cog shook his head.

"I'm sure I can come up with something to have the marriage rescheduled. I hope. I still haven't told my daughter about it, and she'd probably snipe the bride dead if I can't talk her down" Cog replied.

Louise looked at Cog in disbelief for a second, before muttering:

"You don't actually love Eleonore, do you?"

"I never thought the marriage would actually be done." Scratching his head, Cog sighed. "From where I come from, we have a different way of doing marriages. First off there is duty to grant strong soldiers for the battlefield. So the first marriage anyone undertakes is with a member of a Soldier course. Then since Soldiers are usually the first to die, many widowers are conscripted into marriage lists, but, while they are in wait for the next bride or groom, they are free to fall in love, or marry whoever they want. Once at least four children are delivered, you are freed from the *forced marriage* list, and are free to engage in whatever your love interests actually are. You want to sleep with a fish? Sleep with a fish. We are pretty strict, but at the same time pretty lax. Do your duty, then you're free" Louise's face turned bright red at the thought of someone sleeping with a fish.

"But…how…what…I didn't want to know that!" she snapped. "What if someone doesn't like his partner?" she asked again.

"This has never happened since it was introduced; usually since it's the Original who makes the matches, he takes great care in making sure the two are at least at ease to each other. There has never been a circumstance where one has outright refused the matching."

"Still, what if it does happen?" Louise asked again, "Or what if you loved someone, but ended up with someone else?"

"Usually reasons are brought forward by the Original himself, sure, it's not a happy thing, but one must always remember that if we weren't doing this, we would probably suffer more on the long run; like this, instead, we manage to keep our numbers high, and increasing, even without the need to use the cloning factories at full force" that's when Cog placed a hand in front of his mouth.

Louise looked at him not understanding what a *clone* was, but that wouldn't have stopped her from asking, if Cog hadn't simply started walking away from her, towards the lower deck of the warship.

"What was he speaking about?" Louise queried.

"Repercussions are in act, and thus I cannot speak, owner" the blond haired woman, who was actually the Ai with camouflage on to appear like a woman, replied.

"Damn it" Louise muttered, before moving towards her cabin.

Later that night, Cog heard knocking on the door. He carefully moved to open it, and was surprised to see Henrietta with a nervous face.

"Come in" he whispered, letting her inside and closing the door behind.

"You weren't sleeping too?" she asked him, seeing how he was in his usual black uniform.

"I sleep very little, but I must suspect you weren't sleeping either" with that said, he moved towards a drawer and took out a bottle of wine.

"Want a glass of wine?"

"No, thank you" she whispered, before sitting down on a side of the cabin's bed. She fidgeted with her fingers, and it looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't.

"What is it?" he asked, pouring a glass of wine, and then grabbing the bottle.

"You know. I always thought that my duty as the Princess of Tristain was to be stern, noble, and wait until Father would marry me off for political arrangements. Then he died, and mother resigned the throne. I became the Queen, but still I only expected it to be a quick thing; I would marry the Emperor of Germania, and everything would be solved. Instead, things degenerated again. I sent my dear friend Louise to Albion, not once, but twice. I wasn't even able to know more about my long lost brother, that war suddenly torn him apart from me. I didn't even scratch the surface of who my father really was, and yet, I know there is a vastness of things I do not know. Who was father really? It's like the father I knew and cherished was actually all a big lie…" she whispered sadly.

"Then I discovered this, again. My mind is shaking at the very thought… the ground I deemed secure is instead barren, shriveled and falling down. It's cracking and splitting open with every revelation…I am afraid I won't be able to guide my people to safety…I'm afraid brother. How can you withstand it all?" Henrietta looked at Cog with watery eyes, after all, no matter what, she still was but Eighteen years old, to Cog, who was over a hundred, she was nothing more than a kid who discovers Santa Claus isn't real. Cog sighed, and gently patted Henrietta's head.

"Everything is fine, once taken into the right perspective. You know…when we first reached to the star, we thought that nothing would be bigger than our galaxy. We were wrong." As Cog's eyes lost themselves in thoughts, he kept talking slowly, with a soothing voice. "There were bigger stars, bigger planets, plants and animals so strange, and so different, we were wordless. We met and discovered civilizations which had yet to reach the stars, to them, we were gods. We realized it then, it was all a matter of perspective. There is nothing to fear in the unknown. What one must fear are those who wish harm, and hide in the shadows, not the shadows themselves." He whispered then slowly:

"The universe is not a happy place, but it isn't even a sad one. It's a place. Things live, die, rot, grow, fight, make love, breed, kill each other, those are actions; neither good nor bad, only actions. Sadness, anger, happiness, peace are but emotions, they should not cloud truth from false. They will, but they should not." Cog bitterly added. "The important thing is to never be a Hypocrite. Lie with the knowledge you are lying. Say the truth with that knowledge. Speak with the knowledge of what you are saying. Know and do. That will suffice."

Henrietta listened silently, as a sensation of warmth spread over her body, due probably to Cog having sit next to her, she slowly found her head had drifted downwards, towards his shoulder.

"You should be king…not I" she whispered, before dozing off.

"You shouldn't fall asleep while speaking…" Cog replied sighing, as he gently moved her under the bed sheets and tugged them, "Sleep well, worrywart sister of mine" and then, holding the wine bottle, he drank it all in one gulp, while moving towards the upper deck.

-I know: I lied. Fear is what everyone feels, and will feel eventually. Still, I did manage to calm her down, didn't I?- he thought to himself, as he looked beneath him, at the clouds. A flying sip was an oxymoron, like a crawling submarine or an underwater plane, still, while it would never reach high speeds, it did give off a nice scenery view. Standing next to the guard rail, he caught a glimpse of Saito, who was looking at the clouds too. He drew closer, and then coughed to attract his attention.

"Thinking something?" he asked, with a gentle smile.

"Cog…I'm never going back home, am I?" Saito replied with a saddened expression.

"Why are you thinking that?" Cog asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean…I'm no longer human, now" Saito replied looking at his hands, "Furthermore, I doubt my own mother would recognize me, I mean, what did I have, a late growth spurt?" he added then with a saddened expression.

"Too late for that; I made a promise, and I keep promises. You will go back home Saito, I've already got a plan going" Cog replied back with a chuckle.

"What is there to laugh?" Saito asked surprised.

"I found something interesting in the underground chambers of the Cathedral. It will need some time to charge up, but once it's done, worry not, I'll bring you back home"

"Cog…I'm half sure there are laws that prohibits me going back home, in the Empire especially"

"Yes, so?"

"I do belong to the empire now, right?"

"You *belong* to who you choose to belong, Hiraga Saito" Cog replied grabbing both of Saito's shoulders and looking straight into his eyes.

"Nobody forces us to be us. We are who we are because it is what we decide. A man chooses. A slave obeys. A free man fights for what he believes in, and is worth a thousand slaves. The Original need not slaves, but free men. If you wish to go home, home you will go." And with those words, Cog smiled, and handed over to him the wine bottle, only half filled now.

"I'm cutting down drinking…again; leaving the grape juice to you." And with those words, Cog left once more for the lower deck.

Saito looked at the bottle, and, shrugging, took a sip. It had the same taste as juice, and by no means did it seem alcoholic at all.

"Damn. Is he hinting I can't even get drunk?" Saito muttered before going back to watching the clouds.

As the warship docked in Aquileia, the city of waters, a crowd was already formed, used to such celebrations, they were placed at the sides of the large square where the ship would have docked. The square had a large enough pool of water at its center, and, as the ship docked, the water raised until it left its borders and wet the people in wait. This was considered a holy part of the ceremony, and many bowed down to touch the holy water. First from the ship came out the Paladins, in straight lines, they marched holding holy vessels and symbols and were clad in golden and white garments, then came the Ondine Guards. The Ondine Guards armor for parade had been tailored, and made, by Cog himself. Steel and silver merged into an alloy which increased mobility, the symbols of Tristain, a Lily, embroidered onto the chest piece and the shields. Their wands at their right side, and right next to it their swords, they also wielded a gun on the left side, and had helms from which only the eyes were visible, and only by squinting a lot one's own eyesight. The way they marched was like that of the paladins, only with more rhythm. The Queen was at the center, riding a horse, waving her hands when the chorus of "Long live Tristain!" echoed through the people. At the head of the formation was Saito, also riding his Horse, the vice-commander, in his black steel with golden embroideries armor, modeled after a demon, though his helmet was held under his arm and by his side, as he walked nearly towering over the rest, murmurs of respect, and biased info about him actually being the demon of Tristain ran rampant, until one reached with his sight the end of the formation, were the actual demon was, wearing a dyed black mantle, without helms of sort, and with a hand to the handle of his sword on his right side, and the other to the staff in his left side, he marched looking not straight forwardly, but to the sides, like scanning for prey, riding atop a black stallion, he looked constantly angry. Wherever his stares ended up, the cheers subsided for a bit, before resuming soon afterwards. The armor underneath the mantle was scaled, and murmurs of it having being ripped off a dragon became the trend.

Then, once the pope descended, with his smile and warm attitude, it was like the sun coming up after a dark and stormy night, and the cheers erupted in the square.

Among the crowd, Cog sighted a familiar set of faces, and just for a second, he nodded in acknowledgement.

"He didn't reply did he?" Eleonore muttered.

"Sister Eleonore, he wrote he'd speak with you privately" Cattleya whispered.

Eleonore simply closed her fists, and then relaxed them once more.

"I'm worried"

Saito in the meantime was looking straight ahead of him, Horse was actually moving in a parade like form, so he just had to *Act like you know your business* when he lifted a hand in salutations because some people from the crowd actually were waving at him, he could feel a deep piercing gaze at the back of his neck, but choose to ignore it, for the moment.

Among the priests from Romalia, who descended afterwards, there also were Louise and Tiffania, who had nun's clothing.

"That…dog. Saluting the crowd … no, the girls in the crowd" Louise bitterly muttered.

Next to her was Ai, who said nothing, she didn't had to wear a dress, she just had to camouflage herself like a nun wearing a dress.

"Saito wasn't surely meaning anything by that" Tiffania whispered back.

"I hope for his own good you're right" Louise whispered back as they descended too. Louise slightly gasped when she saw her family standing at the side, her mother and father were actually sitting far from the commotion, but her elder sisters were right on the sides, and while Cattleya smiled and waved at her, Eleonore crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow in ire.

Louise gulped, but said nothing and went on along the cobbled road.

*Elsewhere*

The border from Gallia to Romalia had been closed. Among many people who were protesting, a red haired girl stood there, strange metallic claws were at her hands, and she had two sort of slightly protruding canines in her mouth, albeit they were not overly so, and thus she could have passed for cute. She didn't seem to have more than thirteen, or fourteen years, and one of the merchants was actually surprised to see her wearing some sort of leather armor. Maybe she was a girl-soldier for some mercenary corps? So then she would be protecting a merchant, and not waiting patiently for the line to move on.

"As I said before, the border is closed, there is a rebelling fleet from Gallia, and we must keep it close in order to ensure safety" the border officer insisted, but many merchants still pleaded, even promising hefty sums of money to pass through, but the officer refused.

The girl didn't bother. She sat under a nearby tree and looked up in the sky. A small, wicked smile came on her face. The next moment, she was no longer there.

-I'll sniff your scent even in hell, father.- was her thought, as she prowled swiftly over the border, glad for the diversion the invading fleet was providing.

*Elsewhere*

"Father is not under this rock either!" the Soldier course girl pouted, throwing the rock away. She looked around a bit lost, and realized she had left the forest path and had ended near a highly trafficked road. Carts were moving all towards the same side of the road, so she asked to a nice old man on one of them:

"Excuse me sir…what is going on?" chirping happily, like a child.

"Ack!" the merchant looked in surprise at the…thing, a black thing with six pairs of red eyes, vaguely humanoid. Still, maybe it was just a mage's familiar, he was a merchant with some experience after all, finding a lost familiar and bringing it back would be worth some sort of prize.

"You scared me!" he exclaimed, bringing a hand to his chest and breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry sir…really, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" she asked again, worried. The thing, whatever it was, had some sort of female traits, and sounded genuinely worried about him, so the merchant calmed down a bit more.

"Yes…Now I am…you must be a mage's familiar, right?...Well, I don't know what your master taught you, but there is a ceremony going on in Aquileia, we are trying to get there before it ends, because we are all pilgrims of Founder Brimir's faith."

"Oh…a lot of people go there?"

"Well, yes, all in the continent of Halkeginia go there!" the merchant replied.

"So I'll find father there! Good! Thank you sir!" then the thing waved at him, and started running in the direction of the Carts, the merchant would have tried to stop her, but she simply was too fast.

-Engaging assault mode- the Ai beeped inside her helmet, -Codename for the operation?- it then asked again.

"I am the best daughter around! So it will be Betsy!" the girl chirped.

-The name is too stupid to be processed-

"What?" the girl pouted, but then, in a different tone of voice, it said:

"Then use Rayne"

-Name accepted assault mode engaging-

Then the girl's boots revealed small rockets, which lifted the Soldier off the ground and flying into the sky.

"How will I punish father I wonder."

"With cuddles?"

"No"

"Hitting him with a Teddy bear?"

"No!"

"Too complicated then…you think of something."

"…"

*Elsewhere*

"Sand in my boots. Sand in my hair. Sand in my mouth. I've got sand in places I didn't even think would be possible for sand to reach." The woman growled slightly, as she stood up on a dune holding her sniper rifle in her hands.

"And now I'm also frigging lost? Good grief. There is only sand around here. Sand, the occasional elven patrol, more sand. Oh yes, and I was nearly forgetting" as she turned the rifle to the right, a silent shot departed from the muzzle, hitting something two hundred meters to the right, under the sand. From the hole a dark sort of blood oozed out.

"That's it. Heat, sand, crawling most of the day is normal. Underground worms as big as a Sarlacc? No. I'm going back and hitting father so hard he'll never give me orders like this again!" she muttered, as she turned around. "Oh yes. There is only the problem that I'm also lost" with a sigh, she started moving again.

*Elsewhere, and later on*

The starry sky was beautiful, that night. The town of Aquileia had many bridges, and water ways, and was indeed a most romantic spot for couples. Marriages boomed during that period and basically Aquileia's mayor was one of those with the richest coffers ever. The plan to bait the Gallians had been prepared, when news of them attacking the frontier came through: using some sort of golems, really fast, nimble and untouchable by the normal magic, they were marching on towards Aquileia. It was only going to be a matter of days, so, naturally, when the news was spread, two things happened.

Firstly, many devoted themselves to this crusade against Gallian heretics, secondly, many abandoned the city to go back to their homes in their countries. Aquileia, which had been filled with people, now only had militia or the original inhabitants of the city. Among them, however, a man was sighing loudly, sitting on a bench near one of the cities many famous bridges.

"White is a must" the woman next to him said "The flower should be the one from orange trees, you know" she added then.

"I see you are taking it stoically" the man replied with a gentle smile.

"Well, it's better this way; at least I know you'll be a good father" she replied.

"Ah…Eleonore, are you sure you don't want to wait until after this war?" Cog asked her, again.

"Pretty sure. I know you're still going to come back alive, anyway, and I am not going to die at the present, since I'll be going back home tomorrow afternoon"

"No honeymoon? To think I was looking forward to it" Cog replied with a chuckle, but got pinched to the side by Eleonore, who puffed her cheeks.

"Don't worry about that, I'll be waiting for you at the mansion des Ornieres…our mansion"

"Fine then. Aren't you cold dressed only in that?" Cog asked, seeing how the night's breeze wasn't of the warmest, and Eleonore was wearing some sort of yellow frilly dress of sort.

"No, I'm fine" she replied, but she got covered never the less with Cog's chevalier mantle.

"Oh, then don't worry, and hold on to this for me, will you?" was his reply.

Eleonore's face turned red, and for a brief moment, she had no idea what to say, after a while though, she managed to sputter out:

"It's warm"

An arm circled around her shoulders, and then she leaned on Cog, looking at him with dreamy eyes. As their lips were about to meet, however, a cry stopped them. Two cries, actually. Both said the same word, the same exact word, however, while one was of joy, the other was of anger…

"FATHER!"


	23. Chapter 23: Marriage with a war

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Chapter Twenty-three

Eleonore was a triangle wind mage; she had taken after her father for her character and after her mother for her magic. So, when two individuals had appeared out of nearly nowhere and interrupted her romantic night, she clearly wasn't of the best of humors. Furthermore, when they even tried to attack her and Cog, she got furious. Never mind the word they had spouted in some foreign language; the first thing she did was thus an air tornado, quickly followed by blind dot level wind blades. The two assailants stopped charging and looked at each other, then at the woman. One of the two was a girl no more than thirteen years old, with red hair; the other was a black sort of demon with six red eyes.

"Now I'm going to teach you not to meddle with grown-ups!" Eleonore yelled again, as she began a longer chant. The red-haired girl got down on her four limbs, and began growling. As she did so, her armor creaked, and enlarged itself to accommodate a bigger muscle mass. Growling she charged in a zig-zag line, like a rabid wolf aiming for the neck. The demon like creature instead got a hold of a combat-knife from the belt, and lunged forward. Eleonore didn't expect those two to be fast, and got caught by surprise; she saw both the knife and the claws get inches away from her face, before realizing that they weren't moving forward any longer.

She stopped the chanting to avoid hurting Cog, who, in the meantime, had quickly moved himself straight in the middle of the two charging enemies, and grabbing them by the neck, had used their own momentum against them, swiftly putting both of them under a neck-hold and throwing them on the ground.

"If I don't use this amount of force you wouldn't understand right?" he muttered, as pebbles from the street scattered around.

The red hair growled, while the demon like creature removed his helmet, to reveal an orange haired, at shoulder length, girl of no more than seventeen or eighteen years.

"Father!" she chirped, albeit being in a hold from Cog "I've come to rescue you!"

"Grab a number and get in line! I was here first!" the red-hair growled.

"Why don't you two calm down for a second?" Cog sighed.

"You were kissing that woman! Mother would be sad!" the red hair pouted.

"Father, can you let me go please? I'll be a good girl, I promise" the orange haired, Rayne, replied.

Cog sighed…

"I'm letting both of you go, but no fighting." As he slowly removed his hands from their necks, he helped the two girls stand up.

"Are those…perhaps…" Eleonore started asking, before being interrupted by the red-haired girl

"Flat chested ones now? If you've got a loli complex you could have asked…" a set of knuckles to the head later, the red haired girl excused herself.

"Now present yourselves girls." Cog muttered.

"I am Soldier Course, seventh class, number 9203149, codenamed Rayne!" the orange haired girl chirped, smiling and opening her arms widely before closing them on Eleonore's shoulders, whispering at the same time "Hurt father and I'll gut you like a fish on a mark…" another set of knuckles reached Rayne's head.

"You increased of Class too?" the red haired muttered surprised, before presenting herself:

"I am Animal Course, third class, number 12034842 Cerbera" When she said *third* she actually took a smudge face and looked kind of hopefully at Cog.

"Congratulation to both of you then; now explain how you got here" Cog said, patting both girls head, before moving back to Eleonore's side, crossing his arms.

"We were on the net station too" Cerbera said, "Elder sister didn't…"

"She did not" Cog replied.

"Elder sister? Do I have to add more chairs to tables for tomorrow?" Eleonore queried, raising an eyebrow. Much could be said, but not that Eleonore wasn't taking it stoically; compared to the rest she had learned and seen, this was quite actually easier to handle, as nobody was making a big deal out of it, it kind of seemed natural she didn't make it one too.

"I doubt she'd make it in time: I did send her over to the Elven lands to be on the lookout for drifted technology" Cog replied.

"You'd send a daughter near the elves?" Eleonore asked him, mouth agape from the shock, about him being a parent at all, considering how easily he had sent her towards the strongest foe of Halkeginia, and alone to top it off.

"She's going to be fine. The elves are the one who should worry about her" Cog replied.

"So…daddy!" Rayne chirped, grabbing one of Cog's arms, more like a fiancé actually holds her beloved' arm than like a daughter holding her fathers' hand. "Now everything is going to be fine, right? Was I a good girl? Eh?"

"Not fair!" Cerbera pouted, grabbing a hold of the other arm. For a second, Cog thought about how to calm down Eleonore, but instead, he was the one surprised, seeing her fidgeting and getting closer to him.

"Well, I can let them have your arms, after all…the rest *is* going to be mine soon" kissing him straightforwardly.

The next morning, as early as the sun rose, bells rang for a marriage. Unknown to the general population, the marriage was celebrated by the pope himself, while the best man of the groom was the Marquis des Ondines, Hiraga Saito, as the maiden of honor for the spouse's side was Louise de la Vallière, witnesses to the marriage were also the Ondine Corps, the Queen Henrietta of Tristain and the Duke and Duchess de la Vallière. Near the back of the cathedral, where the marriage had been celebrated, stood in guard two figures, covered with ample mantles and hoods, bearing the Tristain's crest, nobody bothered them, as the groom himself had brought them in as guest from his family side. On a side was also a blond haired woman, the Ai, camouflaged.

"In the name of Founder Brimir, at the presence of a minister of his church, do you declare your undying love for this woman?" The pope asked, after nearly half an hour of liturgical litanies, which had brought Cog to wonder just how long was it going to be a church marriage. In the Dystopia, it was something easier, just press the button with the *Yes* and you're done. No need to read the wall-text, sure, it wouldn't be romantic, but it was faster.

"Yes, I do" he replied, the Duke was actually keeping his hand on his wand till then, but then removed it silently. It would never be pried open from the Duchess' mouth, but she too had her wand ready, she even had it in hand. The pope then turned to Eleonore, and asked for her answer. Just in that precise moment, as Eleonore would have said the *Yes*, at least, most probably, a cannon ball flung itself against the cathedral of Aquileia, tearing it down on the side, making the golden effigy of founder Brimir fall to the ground, to the side. Henrietta held her scepter, which doubled as a wand, tightly, looking worriedly around.

"How did Gallia manage to reach this far?" the Duke yelled surprised, as he looked towards the entrance of the cathedral, which had flung open as the two family members of Cog had already dashed outside, quickly followed by the Ondine Guards and their vice Commander, with Louise trailing behind him.

The pope was surprised seeing how Cog was still standing there, even more when Cog turned surprised seeing the pope being surprised.

"What? They can handle themselves…Trust me…Eleonore? You should answer the pope" He whispered slowly, with a gentle tone. The la Vallière nodded, and then muttered:

"Yes. Before the kiss, however…" a slap was flung towards Cog's face that, however, wasn't stopped. "Now go out there and help them, before I keep on slapping you till tomorrow" she snapped; a smile on her face.

"Just married and already bossy…" Cog sighed as he began running.

Outside, hell had broken loose. Ten strange constructs, similar to the Jormungard stood there, sword in hand, slashing at buildings with their swords, while cannons on their shoulders threw more hits around. "Ondine Guards! Spear-head formation! Variant two! Fire Platoon, engage Artillery mode!" Saito yelled at the corps, who assembled swiftly, the only glint of order, in a city of chaos. First was Guiche de Gramont, who began chanting, as the head of the spearhead, a long rock spear began forming above his head, held up there by air magic, and reinforced through the alchemy of the students, who proceeded to strengthen it, and transform it into steel. The Fire platoon began levitating high upwards, into the sky, with Reynal and Malicorne together.

"Water Platoon! Be on the ready!" Saito snapped again, as Derflinger in his hand muttered.

"Partner, you look more and more like a General"

"I don't think that was a compliment" Saito replied, as he launched himself forward with a final yell of "Begin Barrage!"

The metal spear threw itself with speed and strength unparalleled against the first Jormungard, the theory behind such a group spell was akin to that of the royalties Hexagram spells, and was thought to be impossible to make by mere nobility. The problem lied in the activation process, which required specific genetical patterns to be reproduced, this was the same for the Dystopian Psychics of Elite class, who had brains of former family members stashed inside long, white tubes and attached to the back of their spines to increase their powers. A single Elite Psychic could blow away two buildings, and have enough power to raze the countryside with fire. So, what was needed was something to fool said lock, and Cog had actually worked on it in the same way it had worked on Saito's Gandalfr runes: by mind-altering specific recurrent patterns in their psi-waves. The spear however was blocked straight away against the Golem's chest, a thin violet sort of armor appearing from the point of impact. It was the elven magic Counter. The Golem laughed at such a puny display of strength, as a voice familiar to Saito rang in the air, mocking them:

"Is this all the Gandalfr friends can do!" as the golem said that, Saito passed straight through his legs, running forward, but suddenly throwing himself to the side, avoiding a second Golem's stomp, as it had appeared, together with the others one, right in front of them.

"Still, it would be better to solve the problem now. Where are you running Gandalfr!" the voice yelled again, as Saito was seemingly starting to run around, dashing to avoid blows and cannon balls.

–Found it- Saito thought, as he disappeared into a half filled with rubble alleyway.

"The Gandalfr runs away! What a joke! I'll kill your friends and come for you! You won't be escaping me!"

At that moment, a barrage of strange white lights erupted with a deafening sound, tearing apart one of the golems with ease. A demon in black armor, which resembled Cog, stood there, a strange weapon in its hands.

"Rayne reporting in for duty" the voice clicked, metallically, as it began advancing. Another golem suddenly was thrown against another one, as a strange four legged beast, as tall as a two story buildings, dashed at it with long claws, throwing it off balance by the sheer strength of impact, the beast with red fur roared a deafening cry before slashing the fallen golem into pieces.

"Ondine guards! Keep the ranks!" Yelled the Commander, who had appeared in front of the troops, in his armor. Raising his hand he yelled:

"SECOND VOLLEY, NOW!" The Ondine Guards yelled their determination, suddenly having their morale rising thanks to the strange interventions. A second metal spear was formed, and was thrown against the same Golem which had begun charging at them, a wall of earth and wind formed in front of the charging golems feet, slowing him down and making him fall downwards, his head straight in the trajectory of the spear's tip, which hit the mark and that time, was not repelled. The golem crumbled to dust, as the duke and duchess de la Vallière commented:

"We cannot let the youngsters get all the glory after all" the Duchess commented, as the Duke swirled his moustache around, muttering:

"Of Course my dear" and then they both charged straight ahead.

"Rayne on stand-by, psych armor piercing clips finished, requesting orders Commander" Cog turned to see his daughter in her uniform and muttered:

"You have tank-driving course in your curricula, last I checked. There is a light-weight deployable floating tank in my room: go and get it and then provide assistance"

Rayne nodded, doing the military salute as she began running, her boots opening up for the rockets to deploy and letting her swiftly fly away.

"Ondine Guards! Press forward!" as Cog yelled that, cheers erupted and Cog, first in line, charged through.

Guiche de Gramont had always used Valkyries in his fights, since he never liked to dirty his hands; one Cog's training later, and he pressed forward against a Gallian soldier with a steel spear in hand, yelling cries of battle and blood which would have made his mother pale by the sheer amount of insults yelled.

"Come at me! Come meet your end by Guiche des Ondines! The Steel Forger! The Impaler!" he screamed as he flung his spear, which actually had become his wand, no longer a red rose, and more spears appeared, throwing themselves against Gallian soldiers, impaling them on the ground. This was Square Class magic, -Do you see this father! Do you see my power! No longer blinded by your rules! I am Guiche des Ondines and I will carve my way through MY name, no longer through yours! For Tristain! - As Guiche charged once more, an enemy Gallian mage emerged through, firing a fireball at him. Guiche took the blow, stopping and coughing down blood. His eyesight obscured for a moment by the smoke and the heat, was all that was needed for the enemy mage to follow through with a wind air blade. The air blade dashed, cutting the cobbles along its path to Guiche, but when a stone wall appeared in front of it, it stopped.

"Not bad for a boy!" the duke de la Vallière commented, moving next to Guiche "But you shouldn't lose focus! Do not use only square-class magic if you want to survive a battlefield" as the boy stood back up, using his spear as a support, he muttered:

"Thank you…" the Duke nodded and as the stone wall turned to rubble, Guiche charged through once more, using magic to form stone steps along the way, jumping from one to the other to avoid the enemy mage's spells, and finally jumping from there to pierce straight through the enemy's chest.

"Ho…" the enemy muttered, as blood flew straight out of the wound on his chest, and light left his eyes. Guiche stared at the dead mage for a moment, before removing the spear from the man's chest and looking back at the duke:

"We still have a city to save"

"We sure do, soldier" the duke replied with a nod.

Up in the sky, Reynal was calibrating the rest of his Fire platoon; it was not an easy task. Levitation required concentration, as was casting fire spells, the stronger the fire spell, the more the risk of swaying downwards, if the willpower was completely used, then they would fall to the ground.

"Adjust Angulation to thirty-six degrees!" Malicorne yelled, as his wind ability used to peep on girls from far away was now more useful in battle, he had actually become the scout for the artillery barrages.

"Ready to fire!" the platoon replied, to which Reynal then yelled:

"Fireball spells!" the next second, a building crumbled right next to a group of Gallian skirmishers, burying them under the rubble, except one, which hit straight on a golem on the back, who couldn't turn around, because he was busy in a strength confrontation with the two stories high beast.

"I said Thirty-six! Not Forty-six!" Malicorne yelled.

"Sorry! Was busy avoiding arrows!" the guy replied.

"Not an excuse!" Reynal yelled back, two arrows on his right side showing –I will prove my worth, or I am no longer The Scorcher!-

"The beasty thing is having problems! She's surrounded by three of those golems!" Malicorne yelled again.

"Providing artillery cover!" Reynal replied, to which the fire troops lifted themselves higher up.

"Calibration thirty-two degrees south, forty-three East! Upward scaling by one!" Malicorne calculation took into account Reynal as the origin from which to move the artillery wands, then once wind had been taken into account, adjustment were made for the height difference from the levitation spell, and finally Reynal would give the type of spell to be used.

"Fire arrows! Line Variant!" a line spells which utility laid in being a scattershot of flaming arrows. The chanting began, as concentration for levitation fell, and the fire platoon began descending.

–I hope I remembered to uphold the two in the division- Malicorne thought as he looked at the strange red furred beast. Patches of fur had been removed by grievous wounds, yet it did not stop biting, slashing, throwing itself at the golems. It did not retreat, and its eyes were blood shot with anger and filled with rage, the enemy mages and soldiers were throwing at her arrows and spells, but nearly weren't affecting it. Still, being unable to harm the golems, the only thing they could do was provide the beast with some basic support. The arrows flew downwards, hitting and wounding the Gallian's soldiers on the street, burning them or their wooden bows up. Guns exploded into the enemy's musketeer's hands, and mages, after the first blood, began retreating. That was all they could do.

"Keep the pressure on the retreating! Scorch the ground they walk upon!" Reynal yelled.

Tabitha, or better yet Charlotte des Ondines, was flying on Sylphid up in the air, behind her Saito, who had warned her of where the controller of the golems was. Probably on one of the two ships up in the sky, that had the Gallian emblem on the side. The reason Saito had run away wasn't to actually withdraw, but to find out from which of the two ships Myoz was most probably on. Realizing it had to be the right one; he had waited for Tabitha to pass by and had asked her for a lift on Sylphid. Tabitha was more an order deliverer than an actual fighter. The wind platoon was composed of Jack of all trades, excelling in nothing, but capable in a lot. While many provided assistance to the Earth platoon, some were with the Fire one and others relayed messages on the battlefield or transported the wounded to the Water platoon, where they would be healed.

"We can't get closer" Tabitha noted, making Sylphid spin wildly to the right, to avoid an incoming cannon ball from the flying ship.

"We can't waste time, or she might hide!" Saito replied.

"Can't you do something!" Louise yelled to the Ai, which was flying next to them; Louise had actually been with Tabitha, after having lost sight of Saito.

"Requesting Engage parameters." The Ai replied.

"Just get us on the ship!" Louise replied once more.

"Engage parameters accepted" Assuming once more a demonic form, it dashed forward, as cannon balls were flung at her, she decomposed and recomposed, like it didn't matter; once she reached the deck, the words she uttered were clear and simple… -Nanite Fire-

The gunpowder near the cannons exploded, as wooden splinters fell from the side into the air and the ship rolled slightly on it, the sailors grabbed their guns and began shooting at the demon.

Ai didn't move, looking behind her, she could see the owner was going to soon board the ship; a problem would however arise if she didn't stop the shooting enemies. Her claws grew wickedly, as she charged forward, and then dispersed into thin air, at least for what the sailors could see.

Saito was the first to board, and for a second, felt like puking, turning his back to Louise and Tabitha, he muttered:

"You shouldn't look at the deck" Louise climbed up never the less, helped by one of Saito's hand, and, after a brief glimpse, closed her eyes and held her face against Saito's chest. The corpses of the sailors had been pulled inside out, their innards everywhere, like in some sort of macabre festival of gore and death. Blood was everywhere, but it wasn't even the worst of it. The worst was that some of them…were still alive, panting and crying and exhaling their last breathes.

"Awaiting order, Owner" the Ai beeped, as it reappeared next to Saito and Louise.

Charles had always been the third unwanted child of a petty court noble. He had gone to the academy because it was custom to, but would have soon ended among the clergymen, to avoid touching the heredity of his elder brothers, who never looked at him with anything more than scorn. However, right now, as he was setting a Romalian paladin's shoulder, he felt a determination rising inside of him. The paladin thanked him, before going back onto the battlefield. He was saving lives while his two brothers where playing with girls somewhere in Tristain, certainly. He was an Ondine Guard, a Sergeant of the Ondine corps water platoon. He was tasked with the protection of her majesty Queen Henrietta, and soon, he would have more land than his father would have ever been able to provide him. He was Charles des Ondines, and even if his fighting skills were nearly zero, his healing skills were undefeatable. Even the Queen, who had asked if she could help, had admired his ability. He could feel it; today was going to be a victory, and the Ondine Corps would carve it up through their determination. Something concerned him, however. There were voices among the wounded that a sort of black chariot had been helping them get to the healers by protecting them, even though it looked demonic, it clearly had to be a sign from the Founder himself that they were going to win this war. Charles had to bite his tongue not to yell out loud that if anything, it had to be the Commander's doing.

Cog charged straight through one of the remaining golems, cutting it in half, before jumping on the side of a wall, and climbing it with ease till the roof. He could have a nice look at the city from up there: most of it lay in ruins, the channels of Aquileia filled with rubble and corpses, yet the strongest push of the Gallians had been broken. One of the two ships tried retreating, just to be blown up in the sky by a plasma shot coming from down below. Cog could see the black light-weight deployable tank, called the *Paper tank*. There was a valid reason for its name: it was worthless on the defense side, at least, against any enemy worthy of that time or against Nerghulians, seeing how the majority of its frame wasn't protected, and it basically was a fast reconnaissance vehicle turned to war thanks to a plasma cannon on the side. A single well placed hit on the back floater engine and it would explode into pieces. The other ship slowly began falling down too, before crashing on the outskirts of the city. A cry made him suddenly turn his head to the right, and he began dashing off, as fast as he could, towards the giant beast which had a spear planted to her side. –You're Third class! You should be able to take care of yourself! - Cog thought bitterly, as he jumped down from the building's roof, and onto the now corpse-littered street, before moving on again. Cerbera trashed around, she just had enough strength to throw them on the ground and separate their head from the bodies. She was worthless against a Psych shield, so everything she had done was thanks to the natural percussive nature of her attacks. However that required a lot of strength and a firm grasp of the ground with her rear paws. The golems had realized that, or whoever was controlling them had, and had surrounded her, targeting them. Now she was simply panting; breaking down the golem's lance with her front paws had been easy, but when two of them had grappled her on the ground, the third had been looming closer with a sword. The only thing she had left in her was a cry. The sword made a fast piercing motion downwards, straight for the Cerbera's eyes, but broke halfway, as a big stone block was thrown with enough strength to break it.

"Would you kindly let go of my recently acquired daughter?" Eleonore muttered, wand in hand. Cerbera looked at that tiny figure in a wedding dress which had been torn to allow for more mobility.

"Because, otherwise, I am not going to respond to my actions" she added then. The golem didn't seem to take her into consideration, as it threw his palm downwards. Rock pillars erupted from the ground, stopping its hand movement.

"I am a magical researcher first and foremost." Eleonore added carefully. "However" and with that the rock pillars transformed into a hand, "I have been taught basic magic defenses" the rock hand punched the golem on the chest piece, throwing it off balance and to land on the building behind him, turning it to rubble. "So, would you kindly blow to pieces?" she added then. That was when a strange red and purple ray shot forward from the end of the alley, blowing to pieces one of the two golems pinning down Cerbera. The other one would have looked surprised, had he had any way at all to show emotions before being slashed down by a running Cog.

The remaining one which had fallen against a building, was pierced and cut apart by a cutter tornado, the trademark magic of the duchess, which normally would have done no harm, hadn't Cog been suppressing the counter-fields with his own.

Cog moved closer to Cerbera's ears, to whisper:

"It's all over pup: you did well…" as Cerbera panted, she began slowly reducing her size, as muscles disappeared delving back into their natural size, the grievous wounds reducing themselves too to more human like size, until in the end the thirteen year old red haired girl was back once more, in fetal position, breathing heavily and sweating profusely and her armor half broken. Cog lifted her up, covering her with his Ondine Guards mantle, and then gave her over to Rayne, who had reached them on the Paper Tank.

"Bring her to the healers would you?" he gently asked Rayne, who nodded before heading out once more.

He then looked at Eleonore, with a sigh:

"You kind of destroyed the wedding dress. Wasn't it your great grandmother's or something?"

"Actually, it was the great-great grandmother's wedding dress" the duchess said before Eleonore could reply "Still; I would have done the same. I'd better go find my husband…Brimir knows what he might do" she added before departing.

"So…one heck of a marriage, right?" Eleonore said, looking around at the destroyed city.

"Well, if this is the start, the end is going to be a blast" Cog replied with a chuckle, before getting a kick to the leg.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he asked.

"What makes you think there *is* going to be an end, eh?" Eleonore rhetorically said, as she finally kissed him on the lips.

On a scope, two to three miles away, a still covered in sand and sweating profusely Sniper was looking at the scene, thinking to her own mind… -To pull the trigger, or not to pull the trigger, this is the question-


	24. Chapter 24: Preparing a holy strike

**Nekuromansa: I'll do my best to tone it down a bit then although I can't always guarantee. Some scenes are just too perfect a field for some blood…**

Chapter Twenty-four

Drifting aimlessly among the feeding fluid, it woke up. Looking around, it saw the reason for his awakening: a plasma weapon had been used. It was the sign that technology had finally advanced to a point worthy of being studied. It moved towards the monitor, and slowly batting his eyelids, the screen flickered to light, sending strange characters on the screen. It was not a fake alarm. The images zoomed in from both the outside and the inside satellites, something was patrolling the outer border of the planet, the shields were holding, but for how long? Still, his mind deemed it strange, why not use stronger weapon? Why was this enemy going to slowly take down the shield? What was happening? Had this world any actual value? Looking around, he realized some presences had already been detected descending onto the atmosphere and downwards, crash landing. He kept on thinking for the best possible outcome, as the distress signal was sent.

*In the rubble of Aquileia*

"So we should go on the offensive by passing through a river?" The question had an ironic and rhetoric feeling to it; didn't matter if you were a middle aged veteran or a rookie, or even an intergalactical supreme commander, some things were the same everywhere one went: no one likes crossing rivers in war. Cog's concern was about the troops chosen for such a feat. Looking at the map, he realized they had pretty much no other choice. It was either mountainous paths too perilous for an army to cross, or a river. The river would surely by now have the rest of the Gallian army on the other side, and would prove difficult to take without a bit of trickery.

"We no longer have a fleet capable of moving an army, and while Germania will lend aid, it will take some time, if we attack now, while the iron is hot, we might end this war in little time" the general advisor of Romalia spoke with a hint of fear in his voice, something about seeing firsthand what the man in front of him was capable of, and also because he had also been named the Commander for the holy crusade.

"Attacking a scorching iron will only get you burned" Cog replied, before biting his tongue.

"That's the ninth proverb!" the violet haired woman next to him snapped, "Really father you should…"

"We use the river." Cog replied quickly. "I'll come up with the plan once the army is amassed there. For secrecy purposes" He added then.

"We could just use the paper tank!" Mary retorted "one of those and we could get till Gallia"

"No. If that thing gets as much as a dent on its nuclear charged floater, we unleash hell for nothing" Cog replied.

"That is all for the moment" he said while waving goodbye to the military advisor, as, by some sort of ironic twist of fate, he had ended up bed-ridden during the aftermath of the battle. A building had fallen just as he was moving near it, and as a result he had ended up slightly bandaged, and by that, what one was meaning was that he had broken his right leg. He would have died right there, rather than admit he was actually taking a nap on a bench in front of the building. Being careless had its limits, so the last thing his wife, Eleonore had done before leaving was grab the Vice-commander by the neck and have him keep an eye out on him. So, on the other side was Saito, who was slightly chuckling at the scene in front of him.

"You know, it's not even the first time you get people worried for you" Saito commented, "And it's not even the first time I am the one asked to keep an eye out for you".

"This actually means you are not doing a good job" Cerbera pouted from the bed next to her father's, she was going to be fine as soon as new muscle mass would replace the old one; something about highly regenerative properties in her genes.

"Can I ask a question?" Rayne chirped, raising a hand too.

"Ask freely" Cog sighed, Rayne's questions were one of the most embarrassing one ever to be asked.

"Why are you not kill-switching the Ai?"

"You could do that?" Saito whispered to Cog, after Rayne had been given a no-comment and had been sent for a commission, together with Mary. Cerbera casually leaned towards her father's side to hear.

"I could. I won't however" Cog replied with a sigh.

"Why? Father, I mean, you could get it back" Cerbera replied.

"Yeah, I saw what that suit can do by i…herself, with you inside, we could win the war easily" Saito replied, but Cog shook his head.

"No. Everything she can do is because she has learned it from me: I have taught her. Right now, she's like an adult. If I were to kill switch her, she would become an infant, nothing more than an inert armor. Even worse, from your own words, the Original sent the first fleet itself to solve the problem. I cannot act after knowing that" there also was another reason, but Cog bit his tongue once more.

"I see…so, you taught her how to rip people to shred?"

"Well, she also learned from what she saw, thanks to the Chronos inside of me…which reminds me you should definitely have your ready by now"

"What?" Saito stared at Cog dumbstruck, genetical rearrangements were fine by him, but a surgical operation for a thing like that? And he didn't even feel it!

"Should be nearly empty though…oh, right: it's not mechanical, the Chronos was mechanical with some previous generations, but now is 100% organical, it's like another brain, only it works for recording purposes." Saito fell on a chair nearby, looking at his hands.

"You're telling me I have another brain?"

"I'm telling you? You should already know it: you recalled everything happening with the Original"

Saito realized it then, he was having an easier time recalling things now, and more than recalling, he could actually repeat word by word what had been said, done, and what he had seen.

"Mine is an old generation, so, unless I have nanites linking it to my nerves, I can't use it. You however should be able to take the info from it after some training with sensorial exchanges" Cog added then to the already shocked Saito.

"It should help you to know more things, would also give you an easier time coping with everything"

"I'm an E.T" Saito said surprised and shaking his head.

"Mom, I've been away for years, now I'm not only a mass murderer, but I'm also an E.T" he added then "I'm like a Predator or an Alien even! Do I get to spit acid or have a smaller head at the place of my tongue?"

"Why is it you're making such a fuss for a second brain, and didn't flinch about the genetical rewriting?" Cog asked bemused.

"Well, I can live with a growth spurt, what if I have to get scans or something and the doctors see a second brain?" Saito replied.

"Why would they? It's not like you're going to get sick anyway" Cog replied, before standing to sit on the bed, and muttering "You won't get sick, you will not age, you will never suffer from headaches, or organ failures. You will never become addicted to something, nor will you suffer ill effects from poisons or rotten food, barring limb regeneration, your wounds will close and heal up, and excluding fatal accidents, you can pretty much leap from building to building now." Stating at Saito, who was looking him at disbelief, he kept on "A Genetical rewriting means that every children you will conceive will have the possibility to become like you, it will have purple air, and suffer no illness. It means your eyesight will never worsen, and much more. A second brain is just an inch of the things you are going to witness from now on. But no, you won't spit acid, and no you won't get to fly on a bicycle covered in a cape yelling Phone Home. You got rewritten with the only genes the Ai knew of: mine. You are now a Commander of Genocide to be, a larva who could become a pupa and later on a man whose only purpose will be to call for death and judge worlds, a ruthless slaughterer of races and civilizations, a mass murderer will be an easy way to call you, and if, no matter what, you actually manage to survive the Academy, then you will get your Class and your Number, and you will, by all means, enter the Dystopian Empire." But then Cog smiled, gently, and slowly whispered "This, however, only if it is your wish. Otherwise you will simply be a stronger than normal human being, with exceptional health and recuperation. Also, you will gracefully age and prove to have a really strong stomach" Saito slumped on the chair, and closed his eyes in thought, after what seemed like an hour, but was pretty much only five minutes, Saito slowly replied:

"I'd have preferred you'd only say *Yes* to the *I am an E.T* question".

*Couple of days later*

"While we were all away in Aquileia, someone stole the Founder's Holy Mirror, and I have reports of an item missing from the vault under the cathedral of Romalia, furthermore, it seems Gallia has allied itself with elves, as it has been showed that their golems had been reinforced with ancient magic" the pope said, with a grievous tone in his voice, to Henrietta, who was worriedly watching over the Germanian Emperor himself, who, in turn, was watching perplexed to the Governor-General of Albion. A holy crusade expected everyone, every country, to participate, not doing so would be grave, and bring mass excommunication from the church. The pope actually assumed his role once more at the head of such crusade, but Gallia would prove to be difficult to crack, firstly because it had already once been nearly all under the Romalian Empire, and had then been freed, until only Romalia itself was actually a holy city-state.

"News from the front?" the German emperor asked, Albrecht the Third had never fought in a war before, still, from Germania only military commanders were to be expected, so he at least had to act like one.

"None at the present" Henrietta replied looking at the geographical map which depicted the frontline of the war. Carcassonne was the city right next to the city, the people had actually accepted the crusaders with ease, but right on the other side of the river stood the bulk of the Gallian army. Without a way to actually pass the river, having the bridges been destroyed, it would have been a bloody fight.

-Cog would be fine- Henrietta thought –Louise however…and what about the students from the Ondine corps? I received commendations to make Guiche Des Ondines a Chevalier, for ardor in battle… I know I told him to make bodyguards, but I hoped he'd understand they had to be more for parades than war…I didn't think he'd make them real soldiers-

"Your highness…Majesty Henrietta?" the pope asked once more, so Henrietta came back to her senses after having been lost in thoughts.

"Pardon me, your holiness, I was praying for those who are there fighting right now"

"I understand there's a bastard of the Tristain's crown there" the German Emperor said without so much grace, bastards were common things in the Germanian court.

"You should refrain from calling him a bastard, when you escaped being one for a hair-breadth" Henrietta replied bitterly, looking straight in the eyes of the emperor.

"The late Philip the Great isn't here to prove it though, so why did you believe it? Such blatant lies would be drowned in blood in Germania" Albrecht replied.

"He had many compelling arguments; one could be his striking resemblance to the late king to begin with"

"A double or magic could do that too" Albrecht said again.

"Enough! I have proof, and he has helped Tristain far more than what any impostor would ever do, and if I'll hear even another word, I'll have him take care of who I should marry, the same way he chose who became an Ondine Guard" Henrietta snapped back.

"No need to be so upset…" Albrecht muttered, he had heard from some Germanian students at the academy of magic of Tristain just *how* fearsome Cog de la Lily was in close combat.

*Elsewhere*

"So, we do not attack?" The second in command of the holy crusade looked dumbstruck at the actual commander of the crusade, who looked back at him with a *Why are you repeating my words?* stare.

"You amassed us all here, and yet we do not attack" General de Poitiers was a little bit fuming; it didn't matter he had been brought in as second in command, what mattered was that who was guiding the crusade looked like an idiot playing with armies for the first time. He had set camp right in front of the river, right where the enemy camp was, and he had not even said a word on the why. Simply, they had to stay there for a while.

Cog, because obviously only he would have been so uncaring about battle formations of the sort, or where to set up camp, simply dismissed the fuming general, before he began obscuring his vision with the fumes of anger and whistled twice. Mary appeared out of nowhere, and looking at him with a small grin, whispered something to his ear, before disappearing once more, as the tent flapped to reveal Tabitha coming straight in.

"Commander…I need to talk with you" she spoke quietly, behind her, poking her head inside, was Sylphid.

"I understand your concerns Her Highness the Duchess Charlotte Hélène d'Orléans, knight of the North Parterre, I'll do my best to avoid civilian casualties" Tabitha looked at him surprised, hearing a full name, even more the fact was she had been addressed like she was royalty.

"No…I am Tabitha" she meekly replied, shaking her head after a brief moment to completely understand Cog's words, "Not Charlotte" she added.

"You are Her Highness the Duchess Charlotte Hélène d'Orléans, knight of the North Parterre." Cog actually spelled each word slowly, looking straight into Tabitha's eyes, which had grown watery.

"I don't want to be Queen" she muttered.

"Nor do I intend to make you one, if you do not want to, Charlotte." Cog replied, slowly moving closer to her, to which Tabitha began to silently cry.

"However, no matter what, I will not stand by and watch one of my Sergeants live a life of lies. You are Charlotte d'Orléans, and no matter what, nobody will take your name away from you" Cog added, getting only inches away from Tabitha's sobbing face.

"Why then are you calling me with a royal title?" she whispered with a crooked voice.

"Because names are important only when taken into their complete contest. You are meant to be Queen, if you don't want to, and then refuse when the time will come, I'll stand by your decision. Considering I'd lose a Sergeant of the air platoon, trust me, I'd fight everyone else." He gently said with a smile, slowly caressing Tabitha's hair twice, before moving back to the map of the surrounding areas.

"Now, let me show you how I roll." He said to Tabitha, with a wide smile, while cracking his fingers.

The *Paper Tank* was being checked by Rayne at the present, and as she was calibrating some of the sensors, and attuning the engine, a voice calling her from behind made her turn around, just in time to grab some sort of bread filled with food inside.

"It's called the soldier ration, Cog said you should actually eat sometimes" Saito commented, moving near the strange vehicle. He had seen it only slightly while moving, and now that he could take in its form, he intended to do so. It looked like a set of black metal bars, held together by what seemed to be a strange gravity field, in the form of a sort of paper thin replica of a tank, like when a game forgets to charge up all the frames, and you're left with the black overshadow. This was the same, only it looked even smaller, albeit with a menacing cannon which seemed to directly take energy from a round blue sphere, placed on the back of it. The fact it was coverless made it look rather weak, and not at all intimidating; it still did pack a punch however, hearing how it had destroyed some of the golems attacking Aquileia with ease.

"Father always worries about me. I am *not* a child!" the fact she chirped every word of it, and at the same time had started eating messily, didn't help make her point drive through. Her face looked kind of flat, but stocky would have been an apt term. While not as cute as Louise or as beautiful as Henrietta, she had that sort of Siesta charm to her.

-Did I just use a name as an adjective? - He thought to himself, as he recalled the previous thought to mind. Yes, it seemed he did.

"Well…why don't we just barge in with the tank?" Saito casually asked.

The girl looked at him raising an eyebrow, in the same quizzical expression that Cog had given him time, and time again every moment he had said something too stupid to be replied.

"Just touch it" the girl said, pointing at the side of the tank "Father told me of your strange way of absorbing information from weaponry"

Saito slowly placed a hand on the side of the tank, and soon, his mind was literally filled with technical data, but this time, differently from when he had been only a Gandalfr, he could see everything neatly arranged into practical tables, and he could quickly pull to notice what was what, and even possible adjustments to be made to make it fiercer. However, it also came with the absolute reason why they shouldn't have been overly dependent on it.

"A well placed obstruction could destroy it? Am I getting this right?" Saito asked worriedly, to which Rayne offered but a nod.

"You see, this here is a scout tank. To be fast, and nimble, it is actually an ensemble of separated metallical sheets, bound together through a central gravitational core which is then fused together with one or two plasma cannons of caliber 95. The problem lies in the gravitational field: it cannot tolerate foreign objects on the back, and charging through with this would mean giving the back to the enemy. If an arrow were to move through…well, I don't need to tell you what would happen"

"I find it strange it isn't out of production" Saito replied surprised.

"It actually is out of production" Rayne replied, "furthermore, it's a decoy gift outright"

"Decoy gift?"

"Well, diplomacy sometime asks for technological exchanges. This" pointing at the tank "Is a load of crap and metal. Techy enough, but worthless militaristic speaking, so… perfect gift"

"With kill switches and decoy gifts…there doesn't seem to be much peace around your empire" Saito casually commented, which got him back a loud, but bitter laugh from Rayne.

"The enemy is everywhere boy. Everywhere. It attacks when you least expect it, and is always there. Better to be alive in fear, than to be dead in complacence" the voice was kind of colder now, and Saito naturally felt curious, but maybe he shouldn't ask her directly.

"Well then, I still have a tour to make"

"Be careful! Watch your back out there!" the girl chirped back, happily smiling, waving with exaggerated motions before returning to calibrating the tank.

Cerbera was dozing off in the sun, happily munching on a piece of raw meat. She was laid on her back, the piece of meat in her mouth, and was munching it with her eyes closed, like she had fallen asleep eating. As Saito got neared, he heard her muffle something, which turned quite easily into:

"What are you doing here, pup?" she asked slowly. It seemed everyone in Cog's family, Cog included, had a way to refer to youngsters, and being him the last of the last, he was either Pup, or Boy, or Kid, or Little one.

"I was asked to come and check if you had finished eating, because your father wanted to speak to you, but nobody else dared to come close" after the battle of Aquileia, word was that there was a fierce loli redhead capable of becoming a two stories high monster, and that had made the only thirteen year old looking Cerbera the sole capable of fulfilling all requisites. So, nobody had actually gotten closer to her. Someone driving a chariot of doom was still a driver, someone actually becoming something of doom clearly wasn't.

"I am going to take my time: it's not always that I get to enjoy the sun" she muttered back, but actually started chewing the food faster.

"I know what you're thinking" she said then, to the surprise of Saito who wasn't actually thinking anything right then, "You're thinking I'm a monster".

"There is no such thing as a monster, for the only monster is ignorance" Saito replied, which earned him a surprised look from Cerbera herself.

"Father actually taught you well" she muttered "Anyway, I'm sure you want to know why I can transform, right?" she queried.

"No, actually I…" Saito tried to excuse himself, but was cut off.

"Well sit down and let me speak and I'll get to it" she snapped, tapping on the grass near her, Saito sighed and sat down ready for another immersion into what would surely make his mind break once more.

"Animal course is composed of the rejects" she muttered, looking towards the end of the hill, where people were gathering around a bonfire for the supper turn.

"Everyone enters a military academy only if he or she wishes to, but once you sign, you will never leave it. There is no thing as failing a class, there is either death, or success; in the meantime, to choose the right course, everyone is given examinations, and the best class is chosen. The rejects go equally divided between Soldier Course and Animal Course."

"Wait, you get killed if you fail a course? Wouldn't that upset some parents?" Saito asked back, that's when he recalled Cog's words from far before, he had spoken of that too, but the Japanese boy had always thought he had been exaggerating.

"No. The parents of military selected families cannot see their children past age three until after graduation, at age 25" she replied, bitterly "In the end, you are not told anything, and when the years are finally over, your children could have changed so much you wouldn't recognize him or her anyway. Usually a clone is given back to the family"

"Cog spoke about cloning facilities, what are those?" Saito asked curious, was it like one of those Star Wars movies? With clones forming battlefield on ancient laboratories?  
"They are the plan B of plan B's." Cerbera replied sadly, "sometimes, natural reproduction isn't enough, and so the deceased are brought back to live. If the deceased are not enough, then even the living are doubled. Although they do their best never to meet one another and the Original never assigns them closely, would you live happily with the knowledge that somewhere someone precisely is like you, with your memories and who firmly believes he is the original one?"

"I see…" Saito stared at the sky for a moment, lost in thought. –The Original. - He thought about that big face and how he managed to do everything to make life easier for the humans. –Wait. The Original? The Origin? ...- if his eyes could have bulged anymore, they would have, for he suddenly dashed off with a lightning fast speed.

"You're all clones!" Saito yelled at Cog, who sputtered the tea he had been so calmly sipping, sure, he had expected something like *Enemy attacking* but not something like this, nor now.

"A clone?" Louise asked, since she was right next to Cog, drinking tea, but now looking at Saito with a puzzled expression. The Ai was right next to her, in silence.

"…We need to talk about this, when you meant rewriting genes I didn't think it would be…" Saito was panicking, what if he stopped being Japanese altogether? What if he actually had his skin color change or his eyes, or his hair, what was going to happen to him?

"Calm down, take a deep breath, and speak slowly" Cog suggested, slowly letting the cup touch the table, before returning his stare to Saito.

"The Original. He was actually alive right? I mean, organical and all, only men"

"Thousands of years ago, yes. Why the question?"

"He actually cloned himself, creating the first of you, right?"

"Well…no" Cog admitted, "That would have taken too much time and too much science fiction facts are not replicable"

"But he did that, that's why you call him the Original" Saito retorted surprised, maybe he had taken a wrong turn in his deductions?

"Well…he actually had a degree in Chemical Engineering, a MD in genetics, and a knack for biological weaponries" Cog slowly said.

"…You come from Earth, right?"

"Earth was destroyed thousands of years ago, once the sun went supernova" Cog replied.

"The Original comes from Earth, right?" Saito added again.

"Yes, he does"

"Wait, so you two come from the same planet?" Louise asked, but was interrupted by Saito:

"Yes, but he seems to come from the future…what happened to Earth? I recall it now! You spoke of the battles…of Australia, and of Silicon Valley. What is going to happen to Earth!"

Cog stood up, and looking straight into Saito's eyes, said:

"I will not meddle with time travelling, but know this: time cannot be changed. Facts cannot be changed. They can only be altered. What is meant to be will be, no matter how much you charge against it, for the laws of time and space are clear. What everyone knows becomes reality."

"When at least. When do those wars begin?" Saito pleaded; maybe it would be far away in the future, so he wouldn't have to meddle about them.

"Two-thousand twenty" Cog replied slowly. -No, it wouldn't be all that far in time- Saito crumbled on his knees, tears running down his cheeks. Louise ran up next to him, to hug him and try and console him. From one war to another, would he ever find peace?

"If it can be of any consolation, present or future, there were fewer casualties in that world wide war than in any other war ever to be waged" Cog added slowly "but I cannot say more".

*elsewhere*

"The commander is acting strange lately" was the latest trend in the Gallian army's camp. The commander had ordered the placement of strange wooden logs in crosses, all around the camp, followed soon by pickets and metal fences; what made it all the more strange was the order for a big hollow cave to be prepared underneath the camp. To be crumbled at the right moment with gunpowder. To hide the operation, they worked by night, slowly and silently. A plan given by the king; was all he would say about that. Never mind the order to pull back to Lutece had arrived because of Germania invading from the other side, they had to obey the king's first order before retreating. Many had begun having strange dreams of fire and demons and hell. The general feeling however was the same: abandoning god and the founder, they had awoken the demons to embrace their souls unless they repented.

Little did they know that in the darkness, a silent sniper was blowing her pheromones at full force, whenever the wind moved, towards the enemy camp.


	25. Chapter 25:A bitter end

Chapter twenty-five

A horn sounded in the foggy morning. Nobody actually could have expected it, but instead of staying in Lutece, to defend it, the Gallian king had marched forward with his flying navy. Well, actually no; one person was actually expecting that very same thing to happen. The moment the Gallian navy reached their allied camp, they soon discovered that more than half the soldiers had deserted, due to rumors about demons and hell. Those who had stayed were actually the mercenaries, in large part, and some who had more to lose by deserting the king than by staying there. As King Joseph of Gallia descended from the flagship, he looked around with an annoyed expression.

"What is this?" he asked, without a hint of emotion in his voice.

"Your majesty, I have done what I could to discipline the men, but many outright deserted."

"Why did you not retreat? And even then, why did you not charge?" Joseph asked once more.

"The Demons of Tarbes and Rosais are on the other side," the commander of the Gallian army said, "and we were still working on your first order your majesty," he carefully added.

"My first order was to retreat" the King said, pointing his wand at the commander.

"But…" the reply was cut short, as the commander fell down, holding his throat which had appeared to have been slashed.

"Let us move, Myoz. We charge through. Maybe I'll feel something this time. Prepare the fire jewels will bring warmth to my cold heart," the king said, turning toward the woman with strange markings etched on her head.

"As you wish, Lord Joseph"

*Near the Crusade camp*

"So, you have decided to abandon your post?" Saito looked surprised at Louise's determination, as the small pink haired girl had ridden a horse all the way till where he was situated.

"Yes; I can't believe you actually kept going with Cog's plans! I told you so! I told you he was evil didn't I!" no matter if it was true or not, Louise had gotten a good dose of pride back after that scene in the tent. Now, she knew she had always been right, even though she had no clue why Saito had cried so desperately. Maybe it had something to do with the future of his home world?

"He is not evil…at least; there is no absolute good or evil…" Saito replied begrudgingly looking at the river, and at the enemy's first movements: they had taken out wooden planks and had started building boats and rafts. A strong kick on the back of the head made Saito fall on the ground, more surprised than actually hurt; did an enemy sneak on them? Instead it was Louise, fuming with anger and with a red face.

"You're a stupid! A stupid idiotic moron! He's playing you by the nose and you still believe him! Just what is wrong with you!" she nearly cried that out, as she stomped away in tears.

Saito tried to recall what he did wrong, and at that moment, he actually realized it: she was sad when he was hurt, and when she had hugged him, as he was on the floor of Cog's tent, she had actually been both sad for his state and angry, angry at Cog who had made him sad. She was…

"Damn. I can't even be thick-headed anymore, just what the hell is this? Sixth sense?" he muttered, as he stood back up. He had several courses laid in front of him: he could stay there, and do his duty, or he could run to Louise and make peace with her, or, lastly, he could find a way to do both.

He was short on time however, as three thrilling sounds announced the arrival of *The Package*, the code word to refer to the king of Gallia; the one who had to be killed quickly, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. He decided against his better judgment: he would reach Louise and apologize for his thickhead.

Standing atop a hill, Cog whistled once, Cerbera dashed from where she was, two hills below, and reached him without the slightest sweat.

"Orders, father?" she asked looking serious.

"Tell Mary and Rayne to concentrate on shooting down the air menaces, and have them placed at the top of the city of Carcassonne," he replied as he took the spyglass to his right eye once more, "you can go reinforce the right flank; I want them aiming towards the city's streets," and by them, Cog pointed to the enemy army, who was just then reaching the sandbanks, without suffering retaliation.

"Yes father" Cerbera replied, before leaving the commander alone.

The plan wasn't at all difficult: giving a hint to the weakness of a flank would make the enemy army march its strength towards it, then, the tough part would have been closing them inside the city, which had been emptied already, and have them suffer a barrage from the side, while up above the tank would take care of them, having virtually no way for enemies to hit it on the back. They would end up pinched, forced to both try and climb the crumbling city or face the full bulk of the army on their backs. Furthermore after sleepless nights, they were at their wits end, the fact that no retaliation had been done while they were crossing would just increase their paranoia that the Demon of Tristain was planning something. Once the king's position on the battlefield would be known, Saito and Cog would dash in, and end it quickly. The rest of the army would then surrender, as routing would be left unavailable for them.

If everything failed, then he'd have to use his psychic ability. It shamed him to rely on something which didn't belong to him, and the consequences… Cog shook his head, those thoughts would come on later, now wasn't the time to have his mind clouded.

"Father, do you read me?" a female voice chirped into Cog's right ear.

"Loud and clear Soldier, tell your sister she could have warned me about this before I sent Cerbera to talk to you." Cog replied sighing, if he had known Mary had planned to give him some of the nanites from her stealth armor, then he could have devised something more suitable as a battle plan.

"Elder sister said it was meant to be a surprise," Rayne chirped, stopping on her sentence midway "Father, I wanted to ask…would you mind taking some time off and go see mom?" As Cog's only answer was silence, Rayne added slowly:

"We can see all of them, and Eleonore can come too," still silence as a reply "Father?" looking down below, through the Paper tank's scope, Rayne could see her father's figure looking perplexedly high in the sky, and then dashing off; curious, she turned the scope upwards, to see some sort of guy in loose robes hold three strange red glass sphere in his hands, he was flying without a suit it seemed, and also chanting something.

The next second, a blast tore apart the hill on which Cog had stood, together with the command tent. The explosion destroyed most of the camp, which, while being mostly empty due to the soldiers being on the field, wasn't at all devoid of the healers.

Charles had seen a bright light flash in front of him, moments before a strong wave of heat had flashed over him, the healer's tent, and for a brief instant, he had thought about how it was a pity: that he couldn't die in battle. This simply seemed so wrong. The next moment, his charred body exhaled his last dying breath together with the entirety of the Ondine Corps Water platoon. Cog was nowhere to be seen, and since no answer came through, Rayne did the only thing she could do, and was trained to do: obey the last known command. The Gallian ship called "The Wave" fell downwards, split apart by a ray of plasma, which, passing through its deck like it was butter, and igniting the wood, didn't even slow down until it exploded against the side of another ship "The Titan". The two ships fell down in flames, crashing against the landscape dotted with fights. The crusader's army was just about the same size as Gallia's, but the crusader's had more morale, and a hefty dose of technological advanced allies. Cerbera dashed through the battlefield, tearing chunks of flesh from Ogre's and Orcs alike, like they were nothing more than morsels of food. She clawed a Troll in tiny pieces, before falling back once more; it looked like a dog playing with a ball, as she would retreat and then move once more, stopping the enemy soldiers from leaving the field of carnage. On the other side of the river, the Gallian's siege weaponry began shooting rocks and ballistae's arrows, without a care for the soldiers of their side. Some cannons from the ships above shot down their fiery projectiles, and dragon knights from Gallia did their best to scorch the battlefield.

Bidashal the elf looked at such slaughter with a saddened expression, he had agreed to help with this foolishness of using ancient magic for war only because of the Shaitan. Now that he was probably eliminated thanks to the blast from a fire jewel, there was no need for him to use another. That was his thought, until Myoz slowly flew to him on board of a Golomontas.

"Elf, my master wants the remaining fire jewels for him; then you will be free to leave" she addressed him without consideration, neither respect nor hate; only stating the facts.

"The Shaitan could still be alive" Bidashal replied sternly, he had to make sure he was dead.

"If he is, my master will take care of him for you." Myoz replied lifting her right hand upwards, to receive the two fire jewels.

A second plasma ray shot forward, stopping mere inches away from both Bidashal and Myoz.

"Strange magic," Myoz muttered, thankful for the elf's counter to be effective "However I will now take these to Lord Joseph; you are to leave the battlefield, Bidashal."

"Fine, if it is how Joseph commands" Bidashal wasn't going to show the slightest glint of emotion, but he was indeed happy, even when he had been asked to become Joseph's diplomatic aid with the elves, he had shown nothing, but truth be told he would have wanted to kill the filthy human right there. He had resisted then, and he resisted now, as he slowly drifted away into the sky.

Guiche the Impaler was living up to his name, and his new title of Chevalier, as he guided the musketeers' seventh regiment into tight formations.

"First line! FIRE!" he yelled, pointing his spear forward, as the musket shot forward iron bullets, powered up no longer by simple explosive powder, but by a more refined and effective black powder, prepared under Cog's careful instructions, it was called Demonic Powder. The shots broke the ranks of the enemy cavalry, as the horses fell downwards, making those behind trip, Guiche waited a few second before ordering once more:

"Second line! FIRE!" as the second shots burst forward, the first line had begun recharging, while the second one crouched down, aiming the bayonets, mounted on their rifles, forward, in case any lone cavalry straggler actually made it that far. Guiche was using some little dot magic of his own too, by creating small *incongruences* in the terrain, he was actually making enemy soldiers or cavalryman trample down and fall to their death. It wasn't even costing him a lot in willpower.

"Third line! FIRE!" as Guiche yelled again, the third line let loose another volley of lead, planting itself deep into the few remaining stragglers, who had been on the process of retreating. To the right of Guiche's regiment, a wave of fire fell down, burning to a crisp an assaulting enemy platoon, Reynal yelled at Guiche from behind him:

"You owe me one, Impaler!" before having Malicorne give him new coordinates for the next fire volley.

A set of dragon knights launched themselves forward, ready to strike down the fire mages, but just as they were closing in, a gust of wind and steel blades got them from below, sending their dragons down together with their mortally wounded riders.

Tabitha stared from the battlefield upwards, Guiche next to her had conjured steel swords in little time, and she had thrown them upwards with wind magic; a sort of cheap, but effective, cutter tornado.

"Cog's orders?" Guiche asked Tabitha, hopeful, but she shook her head.

"Then back to battle" he replied running forward, to slash at an incoming Halberdier with an overgrown spear.

At that moment, another bright red flash erupted to the side of Carcassonne, the first one had been thought to be a thunder flash in a bright day, since they weren't able to see camp from where they had been deployed, but this second one was straight in the line of sight with the fighters in the battle. The town itself crumbled, as more explosions torn the mountain open, making it fall down, the result of placing gunpowder barrels alongside the major roads of the city which led upward. As it came down, many thought this was the actual plan of the demon, because between an avalanche and an enemy army, the Gallian force would be utterly annihilated. The problem lay with the uttermost left flank of the Crusaders: it still hadn't been given the order to retreat. The one in charge of the left flank was General Wimpffen, and so, his last words were the following:

"Hold the line! For all we know it's a ruse!"

Saito was sure of it by now: Joseph was onboard one of the Gallian's ship, it wasn't the biggest, but it was actually the farthest away from combat. Seeing a single flying golem set forward from it, and then seeing it blow up and destroying an entire city, he was pretty much sure it was there he had to strike. He looked to Sylphid, on his left, and Louise, on his right, and nodded. They steeled themselves for what could happen, because, Cog's words, "You never know how battles turn out. Just fight till the enemy routes, no matter what".

"That's the flagship. Get that Illusion ready Louise." And as Louise began chanting, he placed her carefully on top of Sylphid's back, before mounting himself and departing quickly. The illusion that Louise casted this time wasn't a difficult one: it would simply mimic a Gallian dragon knight reporting back for duty, and being cast on themselves, the only thing they had to be careful about was not getting over the borders of the illusion, while it was maintained. It was however simple, and as such they managed to board the ship with ease, just as Sylphid landed on the deck, however, the illusion wore off, and Saito, jumping down from the dragon, charged at the first officer he could see on the deck, before he could give off an alarm. This was a carrier ship, so there weren't many active personnel on guard duty, and the few he could see were quickly turned to meat pudding by Ai. Seeing how she acted was more than enough for Saito to avert his sight from her. Louise outright ignored everything, and focused her gaze only on Sylphid's neck. She clenched her fists, before descending from the dragon, and carefully making her way next to Saito.

"He should be somewhere on the ship" Saito whispered.

"Ai…could you look below deck?" Louise asked the robotic demon, who nodded, before dispersing into smaller versions of herself, and disappearing among the wooden cracks.

"My, we have visitors!" a female voice called from the stairs, leading to the superstructure of the ship, and probably to the commanding deck. It was Myoznitnirn, who suddenly conjured a golem, to intercept Saito who had charged head on, armed with Derflinger.

"You think this is enough?" Saito smirked, as he pushed the golem aside with a single swing. A golem which no human strength would ever move, but genetically rewritten human strength? That was another story. Myoz was surprised, even more when the hulking man tossed aside a Golomontas to try and pierce her through. Joseph however, appeared out of thin air, using his wand skillfully to block the otherwise surely lethal hit.

"So we finally meet, Gandalfr" Joseph said, he had thought that maybe doing this, he would feel something; instead nothing seemed to have changed at the present.

Saito didn't say anything, keeping the pressure on Joseph who, however, smiled widely, and in a blink was no longer in front of him. Louise had begun casting an explosion spell the moment Joseph had appeared, and yet, before she could finish it, a sharp pain on the side made her break concentration, and fall down crying. Joseph was there, having stabbed her with his wand, reinforced by steel, it seemed.

Saito charged at him again, but he disappeared once more, to slash at Saito's back. The wounds were shallow at best, but the speed of Gallian King was unparalleled. As more and more wounds covered Saito's body, Louise couldn't help but tremble, holding her wounded side, and seeing blood, her blood gushing out slowly from the wound. She had never been wounded before, and this might as well leave a scar.

Sylphid suddenly cried sharply, as golems appeared out of nowhere, pinning her giant form down against the deck. Louise tried calling for Ai, but to no avail, the more she tried, the more she realized Myoznitnirn was laughing at her. Saito wasn't actually staying silent; he was simply unable to let out sounds.

_It was cold and dark down there. She felt the pain. It was like that far away time, when she still was training at the Soldier course in Alsamon. Her mother had been assigned there too, she was such a beautiful Captain it made her proud to be her daughter. Not that she knew at the time. If she had known, maybe things would have gone differently. They were at Alsamon's white beach, making swimming practice with weights: it was an easy test, nobody drowned so the teacher, after cheering them up, decided to let them have some fun with the civilian part of Alsamon. She had gone with two friends from Soldier Course to a playing center, where classic music, video games, and books were available. They even enjoyed a film about a famous War Hero, who held the line on Sogtoth 34, and then the alarm sounded. _

_The next moment, they were deployed by the police force for emergency operations, Nerghulians' came down from the sky on odd looking ships, and she fired the first rounds of her entire life against an enemy. She shot down infected civilians, as her mask showed her who was and who was not infected. When a Saulirs ripped to shred one of her friends, she screamed as she kept pumping round after round into the beast...then the thing broke the helmet of her other friend, and as she shot her down, she received the regroup order to evacuate civilians. She couldn't leave the monster standing, throwing a concussion grenade at the thing, the shockwave of the blast flung her against a concrete wall, and then the entire building plummeted downwards, trapping her in a cement cage. As more and more messages arrived, she realized she was going to die there. A Purge initiated of the world. Just then, just as she was about to die, someone lifted the cement rocks and took her out of there: her mother, a Captain of the police forces of Alsamon. They had seen her fall from far away, and since the bunker was in that direction, they had rerouted to assist. She thought it was over…but then they were ambushed. Again and again they fought their way towards the safety bunker, until it was in front of them, and inside, awaiting them was a single escape pod. Captain ranks go first. That was the law. However, she had been forced into a suit through a civilian conscription paper, so, for that single mistake, she was actually invited to enter the pod first, as a civilian. In that moment, as soon as she lay inside the pod and thanked the captain, the pod departed, leaving her mother down there, to die._

_Having departed after the purge started, she was kept in confinement on the drop pod for seventy-two hours, without water or food. She only had a chocolate bar and ate it out of stress. Then she waited until the life support of the drop turned off. In the freezing cold, she waited. Finally, after an eternity, she fell asleep. In her sleep, a voice called to her, saying she was a liar, a bad girl, an evil person. Another one called back, saying it wasn't true, that she didn't mean it, but it just happened for the spur of the moment. One excused her, the other accused her. When she finally came back to her senses, she was in an infirmary bed, aboard "The Hope Crusher" the Leviathan classed purge ship, and the one who was looking at her with a look full of hatred was none other than Elite 578639, in that moment, she felt that, whatever she did or however she was going to be punished, it would never atone for how that man felt in that moment. _

A slight croak came to her ears, something moved next to her, and then she saw the light once more. The long figure, with violet haired, looked at her for a brief second, then slowly grabbed her under the shoulder, and brought her out of loose pile of rocks. Slowly, they began limping towards the healing camp, or what they could see of it.

"Father is…still alive?" Rayne managed to cough up, as the tank's paper thin armor falling had absorbed much of the impact, she only walked away with severe broken bones. Next to her Mary stood silent, carrying her like a bag of potatoes, she sighed:

"I don't know. I know that I had to give up my nanites to stabilize the tank's engine, which was about to break, and come save your sorry ass."

"Sorry ass to who sister? You're the one who's got a broken arm" Rayne replied bitterly.

"I absorbed much of the sphere's destructive power, sister. Or we'd be charred right now" Mary replied once more.

A stressed silence came between the two, until, silently, they both looked at each other and started chuckling.

"You think Cerbera is going to be fine too?" Rayne asked, worried, but chirping.

"Obviously: now shut up and start climbing" Mary sighed back. It was going to be a long trek.

Saito meanwhile was having a tough time. Joseph was simply too fast to be perceived, or seen, and there seemed to be no way at all to fight him. If only he had a way to…wait. His brain recalled back the previous memories, he *was* seeing him, but at a speed too fast for his brain to normally understand where he was. He had to think about it fast to have a chance: he clearly had no style, simply enjoying torturing him. Saito repressed a grin, as he took yet another cut, then another, then finally, Joseph screamed.

Joseph had been using Acceleration, a void magic, for he was a void mage, to speed up and try and feel anything from fighting Gandalfr; yet he felt nothing, and Gandalfr had proven to be anything, but a threat. Then the boy decided to throw his sword at him blindly, raging like a barbarian from the wild tribes, and he had easily moved to the side, to cut him again, then, the ground under him had failed, and he had stumbled downwards. Towards a pile of rotting corpses. As he stood there, in a mass of flesh and blood, he saw six red eyes staring at him, claws dripping blood, and in that precise moment, in that single instant, King Joseph of Gallia knew fear. In that knowledge, he didn't know it, but he had felt an emotion for the first time in a long run, and it would prove to also be his second last, for his last one was utterly hellish pain and despair. As Myoznitnirn runes disappeared from her forehead, she shrieked, throwing herself into the hole of the wooden deck, towards her death, while the golems holding down Sylphid, who was still very violently trashing about, disappeared. The Ai emerged unscathed, resuming her normal form, with even a small glint of a smile. Saito shivered at the thought…just what had it done?

"Saito…" Louise pleaded, to which the boy soon realized that she was bleeding.

"Louise!" he yelled, getting closer with a worried look.

"May I provide first aid assistance?" The Ai inquired, to which Louise, however, shrieked:

"No! Anyone but her! Please! No!" the Ai said nothing, standing by, as Louise was brought by Saito hurriedly on Sylphid, and then downwards, towards the healers' camp.

Cog stared silently at the sight of the battlefield looming under him. He had felt it. That was why he had to disappear for the moment. He had left a charred body in his place. It wouldn't foul Mary, Cerbera or Rayne, and probably it would also make Saito suspect something, but he had to leave, and he hoped his hassles found a convincing reason not to speak about it out loud. Someone had orchestrated a booby trap to spring up, if they had ever made it to the Gallian camp, and that someone, clearly, wasn't him. He could have told Mary to keep an eye out, when she told him what she had discovered spying on the camp, but this being a Grehyr science world, he didn't want to have a pup do a dog's job: there had to be a Grehyr still alive, and it had to be found, and destroyed. If instead, it turned out to be something else, then, even better, he'd pass off as Paranoid. He looked at how the battlefield turned out to be: Gallia's army surrendered, the few that remained, while the left flank of the crusaders, something like a thousand or more men, stood now in the two digits, of critically wounded. The right flank had stood strong, with Cerbera free to trash around on an open field, and in the center, the Ondine Guards had made him proud, as the sun silently settled over the battlefield, he could see everyone was going to go to the camp, and then, they would find out the sad surprise. The Duke Chevalier Cog de la Lily des Ondines was dead, on the field of duty, together with the rest of the water mages who had stood at camp.

-Sorry Charles…that I could not protect you, nor the rest of my men- and with that final, bitter, thought, Cog left with the weight of the midday over him.


	26. Chapter 26: Grim advancement

**Pretty much from here on out its speculation, (since all I got was from the zero no tsukaima wiki, and was a bit vague concerning things) the anime actually cut short a good chunk of plot. And by *Good* I mean a lot. Though I thought to use this chapter to show some psychology and emotions.**

Chapter Twenty-six

Bartolomeus walked swiftly behind the other comrades of his mercenary unit. After the brutal defeat near Carcassonne, he and another rag-tag group of survivors had banded together, since pay wasn't going to come, they had no choice but go pillaging around Gallia's countryside until there *services* would be needed once more. Maybe they could even join the crusade and get some money. There weren't more than six people with him, but one of them had been limping pretty badly now, and was slowing the rest down.

-We are probably going to abandon him- he thought as the limping man came to a halt once more, and then fell on the ground. The others looked at Bartolomeus, for confirmation: everyone was thinking the same thing. Quickly, a dagger fell down, and mercilessly killed the already dying man. It was more a piety than mindless slaughter: with an infection on the wounded leg, he was going to die anyway, since they had no money for a water mage. Soon, they took whatever they could from the man, and carried on. As the light began fading, leaving place for the night, they lit a fire next to the road, and waited for some unaware traveler to come by. Like a moth to a flame, one actually did stop by.

"Is this the road to the monastery?" the boy who was speaking wore the Romalia's cloak, and seemed a traveller.

"Don't know about that" Bartolomeus said, "But I'm pretty sure you won't reach it" as Bartolomeus and the others dashed forward, a strong gust of wind sent them backwards, and a dragon behind the boy's back made his presence known.

"I am pretty sure I will, instead." He replied, before muttering "Azuro, let's clean another mess", and as the boy said that, screams echoed through the dark night.

*Elsewhere*

Saito stared in disbelief, as the coffin was slowly brought inside the crypt of the royal family of Tristain. He wasn't sure how to take it, actually. On one side, he wasn't at all sure Cog could possibly die from something, on the other, there was the fact that the charred body had on him the burnt symbols of the commander of the Ondine Guards, and the place he was found showed that it actually had been the epicenter of the explosion, which had also taken the lives of the water mages in the camp. Charles des Ondines had died, together with the few other water mages, some of which had been line, or even triangle class. Their funerals had been held with honor, even of those who had clearly been vaporized by the explosion, since their bodies had completely disappeared. Only ashes remained of some or half bodies. He recalled Cerbera's reaction to seeing Cog's body; Rayne and Mary had been silent, watching with a surprised, and then saddened, look. Cerbera had outright roared to the sky and started crying her heart out, refusing to part with the body until the combined strength of Saito, Mary, Rayne and the words of Henrietta, arrived a week later, had finally managed to. Even then, she was still there, looking at the coffin going deeper into the crypt, with eyes filled with tears.

"You know…he wasn't all that bad," Louise whispered to Saito, "but he shouldn't have promised Eleonore to come back" she added looking forward, as first in the line of the mourning, right next to the queen, was Eleonore.

"He wasn't expecting this," Saito whispered back, "Nobody was expecting this," he added.

_It would have been more probable for Guiche, or Reynal, or Malicorne, heck, even for him, to die. Cog? Cog was like a sort of steel foundation, he should have been indestructible and unmovable, instead he was there, charred to the point of being barely recognizable, and inside a coffin. The Commander of Genocide which had helped Saito through thick and thin was no longer there. The man who had helped him against the first fight with Guiche, had provided him food when Louise still gave him scraps, had guarded him, defended him, fought with him and even saved him, was no longer there. The man so stupid to help him in an unwinnable battle, even for his standards, a man capable of laughing and shrugging off anything, a hero, and a monster, who had brought him up into manhood, and had kept him from straying on a wrong path. Sure, he was no longer an innocent child, but at the same time, he didn't feel he would ever become the man that had just left this world. He always had a plan, a way and a safety net. When he didn't he created one, when something was wrong in his eyes, he fixed it. He was direct and spoke his mind, always. Now it was up to him to guide the Ondine Corps, to find a way home. "I promise I will get you back home" now who's going to keep that promise Cog? You liar. You big, dirty, liar. _

Tears began silently falling from Saito's eyes, and Louise couldn't do anything but stare, saddened too, but to a lesser degree, for the crying boy.

"When one dies in a crusade, he surely ascends to founder Brimir's side" Guiche whispered, next to Reynal and Tabitha.

_Guiche had started out as a good for nothing skirt chaser. Even after nearly being choked to the death, he had tried his luck with the Ondine Guards. He had survived firsthand the assault of the commander, Cog, and had used everything in his power to run and hide. When he came out, he had thought Cog would have refused him, instead he had accepted him, patted him on the shoulder, and told him that he was going to become a great man. He just had to follow his orders. He had nodded then, and had cried later, when the training had begun. He had been a simple dot earth mage, but Cog wouldn't have it. If he wasn't sleeping, he was training, and if he wasn't training, then he would be suffering, skirt chasing was cut out, because he had no time; enjoying life would come later, Cog warned him, because only after having suffered, can one fully understand what enjoyable thing it is, to live more. He learned to use fear to his advantage. The spear of his Valkyrie became his own; the idea of leaving the fight to others was discarded. He would fight alongside his comrades, and would win or die alongside them. He was no longer the Bronze, but the Impaler. On his first battlefield, he had nearly cried out in despair, as he was too scared to even give basic orders, and only his second in command had managed to achieve something, for which never the less he got the medal. On his second battlefield, he proved his worth holding the earth shield against the dragon knights of the Ritter corps. On his third, he wielded a spear and charged like the man he had come to be. On his fourth, he knew the drill and finally understood what it meant, to fight alongside others. When the fifth would come, he truly hoped he'd become someone worthy of being called Vice-Commander of the Ondine Guards. _

"I'm sure the founder himself is going to be so scared of our commander that he's going to send him back, pleading us never to let him die again" Reynal whispered back, looking at the coffin slowly going in.

_Reynal had done his best against Cog, when the selections had begun. He had always thought the rumors about his strength to be false. Truly, they were: the commander was by far stronger than even the wildest tales would have ever been able to spring about. He easily knocked down dozens of third years and second years, and when he launched an attack against him, Reynal could only throw everything he had at him, every flame wall and fireball, without even aiming at where he was shooting. That was when he realized that Cog had actually kept being hit by them and had changed his target. He had never understood it, until later, when he had been admitted into the guards. "Did you realize where you were shooting?" Cog asked him, "No" Reynal had replied, "Then go and look, and come back when you realize" he hadn't understood then, but looking back at where he had started shooting, he realized that, had Cog not been in the way, the cafeteria's windows would have been shattered, and behind them, had been the students, the first and second year. He went back to Cog pale in face, asking to be removed. The commander had shaken his head, had grabbed him by the shoulder, and had told him, with a serious face: "Never. One who fears what he's going to hit and harm makes the perfect man for artillery attacks" and training had begun together with the rest of the fire mages. They had learned to bend iron, and form other alloys, which had then been melded to form the basic skeleton of their barracks. They had created long thin tubes, and learned about hydraulics. He had explained to them that no matter what, a thing can always be used for destruction or creation. Reynal couldn't help but feel that his words and Professor Colbert's had been the very same, albeit said differently. Cog had also a scary side to him. He didn't accept ill conceited thoughts of superiority, and crushed arrogance and pride mercilessly: by the end, they were no longer fellow nobles who had to bow to each other on family matters. They were fellow soldiers, whose only salute would be to superior officers, whose only duty was to the queen. _

"Cog was…is strong" Tabitha added.

_At first, she had been annoyed at the man who had barged in without a care into her reading time. Then, she had seen his careless attitude, his carefree lifestyle, and she had hated him for being so smiling, so free from problems, so different from her. But when she had been taken away by an elf, and was soon to meet her end, he had come for her, without caring if he had to fight an elf or an enemy army, without worrying every single step of the way; he had simply barged in once more, as usual. Then, he had fought an enemy tougher than any mage would ever be able to fight, and he had done that alone, without magic. Cog was strong. Strong and alien to her and probably to this world, yet he also was good. Good but with a streak of evil. He had saved her, and she had accepted his offered hand. When finally, she had become one of the Ondine Guards, she had thought about what to do, if she had to act any different from before, but Cog had given her only one order "You're already trained for war, so, go and have fun with your friends" and she had understood, that Cog didn't care about her politically, and that his talk about using her power had been meaningless. Even though she was probably the only one with fighting experiences, and killing, she was instead tasked with delivering messages on the field, or supporting, rather than doing all the fighting. When she had entered Cog's tent, she had wanted to ask him to be merciful with the Gallian's who had wished to surrender, and he had surprised her once more. He knew, even though she never told anyone, he knew even though Percy had called her Tabitha, but even then, he had smiled to her, and held her shoulders, telling her the truth. He wasn't there for politics, and he wasn't there because of orders. He was there because one of his soldiers, one of his men, was in need of help. He couldn't have cared less about the crusade, at least in Tabitha's eyes, he was there for her. So that she would stop hiding her real name, and her real obligations. Yet, where was she when the first flash was seen? If only she had been more careful, if only she had realized something was wrong when the orders weren't coming, maybe he could have still saved him, healed him. Instead he was now laying there in the coffin, charred and dead. She wouldn't believe it, for Cog wasn't Ivaldi: he was better than Ivaldi. She too steeled her resolve. She had announcements to make and a kingdom to rule._

"The commander is probably going to have a tough time; he's got a lot to live up to" Malicorne whispered, being behind them.

_Malicorne had tried once, but had failed, due to him being the closest one to Cog when he had declared how the fight would start. Without giving up, he had tried again, albeit with a plan: he had been in the last row, and had then thrown a wind gush at those in front of him, before starting to run faster than ever before. It had been a dirty trick, but it had given him enough time to go and hide. Finally, when the time was over, he had shown himself in front of Cog, who had looked at him, stupid grin and all, and had told him a couple of words: "You're in. Try that with your fellows however, and I will flail you alive, have your innards eaten by maggots, have…" and had kept at it for the next two hours, shoving into his head such a colorful set of expressions and words that had made him realize one thing: Cog was the devil in person. However, when he was caught by him spying into the women rooms from the window of the dorm room in the barracks, Cog had politely asked him to which windows had the best girls. He had answered without fail, and, a set of knuckles later, he was moved to the fire platoon as support. He became their observer and through harsh coordination training, their aim became incredibly precise. He was finally proud, not because of his family, the Grandple, but because of what he had finally become. He even lost some kilos too, and some girls began actually looking his way…rest in peace commander._

"Saito will do his best, I'm sure" the murmur came from Malicorne's right, where Professor Colbert was.

_When Louise had summoned those two, I thought it was strange; I never would have realized the changes they would bring to this world. From a Gandalfr, to two Gandalfr, then one revealed a demonic nature, while the other was warped under the first's influence. Then, his malice kept spreading, until in the end murder was at the day for the students in school who followed him…yet, he doesn't deserve my hate now that he's dead. I never got around to fighting him, but I hope wherever he is now in heaven, he's not getting too rough with the angels of founder Brimir. _

"Please be silent, the pope is still speaking" Agnes muttered behind Colbert's back.

_Never liked him one bit, it always seemed he was hiding something. Yet even in his rashness, he always took care of Her Majesty better than anyone else would have ever done. He was crude, yet effective; a soldier thorough and worthy of that title, an unstoppable force, a foe I would never have wished to fight. Kind of makes me wonder when it's going to be my turn to die in the name of my country, eventually, even the great men and women must fall, right?_

As the ceremony drew to a close, gunshots were heard on the outside. It seemed to be a ritual from Cog's country. Three gunshots in the air, repeated three times. One more gunshot for every medal earned in his life afterwards. Thirty-five shots filled the air next. With every shot, people stared in silence at the pope, who then finished his liturgy, and said nothing more.

Everyone moved towards the widow, to talk to her and express their condolences. Only one person didn't move towards her; it was Mary, who carefully slipped out of sight, having been at the end of the cathedral for all this time. As she walked outside, in the slightly fizzling rain, she couldn't help but think.

_Father was able of great feats. Could he really not have perceived the threat? No. I couldn't analyze the body, seeing how Cerbera trashed it and refused to part until it was too much decayed. Still, I can't believe it. Can't or won't? I don't know. I really don't know. I was the first of his hassles, as he used to say, right? Maybe I should prove to him that i am not only that bad. Really, then maybe nothing is lost, maybe he's going to become a clone, somewhere far away, and still be alive, and maybe he'll have another family. Other hassles. If only first fleet arrived: what is taking them so long!_

*Up above, in space, inside the First Fleet admiral ship, "The Dark Sun"*

"You realize the stupidity of our predicament" the Fleet's commander said, once more, to the weapon officer, who, once more, replied:

"It is not my fault we do not know where to aim the damn weapons, sir. Next time, someone could send us a detail of which city we can hit while opening ourselves a hole in the planetary shield"

"Someone remind me, why is it that some of men from the Cleansing fleet actually managed to descend there?"

"The shield wasn't there at the present, but it activated afterwards sir, that's the theory"

"Now, communications are still off?"

"Yes" replied the communication officer, turning on his chair to mutter "And unless we get a synchronization with ground control, we are unable to perform human traslation"

"Weapon officer, charge those guns once more"

"Sir, it's going to be useless, ballistics are simply deflected, while plasma are absorbed. We are using the point defense guns, because we don't want to harm the atmosphere, but until a turret is getting retrofitted to lower values, it's going to be impossible to…"

"I said fire"

"Yes, sir" the weapon officer sighed, as he moved his hands on a green glass panel, moving numbers, and assigning strength values, and selecting turrets and their angulations. His final thought was about how doing this was the same as trying to squat a Massagon with a frying pan.

It wasn't that the frying pan didn't have momentum, or some sort of damage effect, it was that the Massagon was simply too big for the frying pan to do something.

Silently, a set of small steel bullets were accelerated to Mach two by gravitational rotors, and then thrown outside, towards the planet. There, in the stratosphere, they impacted against a shield, and bounced harmlessly away.

"…You realize the stupidity of our predicament"

"…Sir, I want to file a transfer to the mechanic department: I want to help retrofit the turrets."

*back on Halkeginia*

"So, tell me beautiful light of my eyes, how come I have never met you before?" the man spoke suavely, and with such a charming smile. A pity he wore a white mask, to hide a charred face, as he said.

"You are making me blush, sir" the girl replied, shaking her head, "I am not so beautiful".

"I would beg to differ, priceless piece of art that you are. Tell me, my delicate rose, where is it that a man can find some adventure in the desert?" the man asked again, bringing forward a rose to the charming hostess of the inn.

"My, my, what type of adventure are you talking about, sir?" the hostess looked intrigued, moving herself, and her luscious bosom, more forward, from behind the counter of the inn's bar.

"I heard of artifacts…found in the desert…is there anyone with guts who wants a guard?"

"Oh my, what a pity…for such a nice man of the likes of yourself to seek death…" the hostess pouted, going back behind the bar, to clean another glass.

"Now, do not be sad…if I come back, I might be rich"

"I wasn't sad, but if you are interested, I know of someone who's departing in an hour, near the plaza, in front of the fortress…" as she turned around, the man was no longer there. A pity. He had paid however, leaving the money next to the glass of emptied beer.

Removing the white mask, and wearing a set of heavy bandages, the man kept on walking, reaching in an alley dressed in red, he went out dressed in white, loose robes, perfect for desert travels.

-Call me everything, but I was top class in infiltration subject- he thought, as he set his eyes on his mark, what seemed like a young ragtag group of fallen nobles, who were armed with but a pair of camels, and a set of paper maps. Some even looked damn familiar to Cog, because really, who else would have the skill to change clothing while moving?

One of the fallen nobles looked at the nomad-like dressed man, who stopped in front of them, and queried:

"What is it?"

"I heard you seek the desert's prize" Cog replied, feigning a sleazy voice.

"What if we are? This caravan is full" the noble replied, as the other nodded.

"None of you have ever been in a desert before, isn't it? I only ask for a small part, and in exchange, Salazami will guide you through many of the dangers" Salazami, what a horrible name.

"Strange name, are you perhaps from Rub?" one of the man asked, to which Cog nodded.

"Yes, who better than one from Rub, to avoid the elves?" really, they were accepting the fact they had gotten lucky too easily, Cog was even starting to think nobility was made by the 99% of idiots. Fallen nobility was thus made of the most idiots, like, a purest bred of idiots. One of the nobles of the band nodded, and then another. In the end the six nobles accepted a seventh partner, who had the decency to come with a camel of his own.

"So, a great treasure is hidden inside an empty column in the middle of an oasis, right?" Salazami was surprised, these guys were worse than idiots: they were idiots without a sense of self-preservation. Having readily offended him more than once for him not being a noble, or not looking like one at least, in the course of three days, he was starting to think that, no matter what, he wouldn't actually keep this up with them. He bit his tongue; he couldn't start using Psychic attacks now, of all times. He was sure that wherever the Grehyr was, it could only be in the desert. There were too many *mutations* produced by high psychical waves in the air of the desert, the elves came from the desert and the *holy lands* beyond it, so it was clear, it had to be there. The base of the Grehyr had to be somewhere in the desert, maybe deep down a natural cave complex or even buried under the sand. Later, that night, the group of nobles stood circling around the fire, while Salazami stood guard, as usual, far from the campfire. This proved, as always, to be the right choice. He had led the nobles by the nose, and when they had been nearing an oasis, he had advised them to go in there the next morning, because it was getting late. The guys had drunk their water, uncaring if the oasis' one was potable or not: they were happy to maybe have found their Eldorado. So, as they were without doubt planning on how to get rid of the guide, the guide simply crept away.

The oasis was surrounded by palms, and vines. Vines do not normally grow on oasis' palms, so, when he realized the oddity, he simply began crawling, avoiding the vines on the ground, and the ones in the air, like he was playing Limbo. Once on the other side, he slowly crept into the water, silently swimming his way on the back of the strange rock formation in the center of the oasis. Touching it, it showed metal under the thick dose of rust and corrosion, mixed with the naturally growing algae. It looked like a fallen plane, a fallen bomber plane from the second world wide war. Cog dived under water looking for the plane's cockpit entrance. If the world hadn't changed the gravity pull, half of the plane had to be empty of water, and maybe, filled with something.

As he saw the broken cockpit, and what remained of the skeleton of the pilot, he military saluted the man, death by drowning was absolutely the worst death, at least depending on the polls made every now and then and shown on television. The second worst death was eaten from the inside out by Nerghulian phagocytes. Cog made his way till the air bubble inside the plane, and began breathing again. Looking around, and climbing outside, he realized he could actually see little pieces of the outside from the portholes, albeit many were covered by algae's. He sat down on a crate, looking around and sighing. From the porthole, he had managed to see that on the other side there was a small house, with a wooden pier, and some dragons, clearly used as mounts because of their saddles, were sleeping peacefully. An elven outpost.


	27. Chapter 27: The meaning of strength

**There are probably still going to be two to three chapters, but we are nearing the end. Then I'm probably going to go back and rewrite some chapters, or maybe write something else entirely. Thanks to all the readers who stuck through the entire story! Thank you for the time!**

Chapter Twenty-seven

As the morning sun rose, Luctiana stood at the side of the oasis, looking at what the guard vines had captured: a ragtag group of human nobles, who had, maybe by sheer luck or fate, managed to avoid all the elven patrols in the desert. From what she could hear, they were missing also a guard, although this came fragmented together with other words of fear like not to eat them, or torture them. Since her uncle, Bidashal, was there with Eri, her fiancé, it actually became easy enough for them to be knocked unconscious and taken to the elven capital.

As she still was pouting, for not being allowed to speak with the humans or research them, a shadow loomed on her back, and the next second, a dagger was placed at her throat and her mouth was muffled.

"Silence is golden," whispered a voice from her back, the strength of his grip was astonishing, she couldn't even mutter a word, or prepare a spell.

"Now I mean no hate, but I will kill you, unless you can provide me with a reason not to" the voice added carefully, without removing the hand which was preventing her from speaking. She tried muffling, but the dagger soon repositioned itself right in front of her right eye.

"Now, I'm going to let you speak; but if you try anything, the pain from losing an eye will grant me enough time to kill you." He whispered again, before letting slowly go of her mouth with his left hand, and placing it a bit under, towards the throat.

"I…" she was at a loss of words, she didn't know what to say "I'm not a warrior…I'm a researcher…" she pleaded.

"Oh, are we scared? Good… now tell me…what is your relation with the two elves that left?" the voice asked again, slowly, just how tall was the figure?

Luctiana couldn't help but gulp down in fear, and whisper back:

"They are…my fiancé and my uncle…my uncle is really strong…" she added, "if something happened to me, he'd come and search for you" she thought this would scare the man, instead, he simply snorted a chuckle.

"My, you are not helping…because I do want him to find me" as he said that, he slowly started making the dagger in front of her right eye circle.

"Now, how about we play a little game? I let you…"

"Luctiana!" Yelled a voice behind them, as the dagger quickly removed itself from her eye, and she became a sort of meat shield, between her captor and Eri, who had just descended from his dragon, and had two swords of his own in hand.

"Let her go, you filthy…"

"Not helping Eri!" Luctiana muttered, as the man chuckled once more.

"My, he's an idiot" the man replied, "Boy, a suggestion: if you want to kill someone, you need to do it silently, no talking or yelling" he added then, addressing the elf.

Eri was seeing that man, tall, his face covered in bandages, and loose desert robes, slowly moving backwards, towards Luctiana house. He couldn't help but move forward, his dragon, behind him, snorting but otherwise not moving.

"Who are you?" Eri asked once more to the man, who looked at him, through the bandages, without as much as raising an eyebrow.

"Do you ever believe a masked man would tell you his identity?" with a grin, unseen because of the bandages, the tall man took a step inside the house.

"My, what a collection" he muttered to the girl. "Collecting human's knowledge? Is it a fashion among elves, or are you a human researcher?"

"A bit of both, actually," the girl retorted back "you could give up, and maybe we could start once more, with me as your host and not as your prisoner"

"Luctiana, don't worry, I'll save you!" Eri yelled, staying outside of the house however.

"You know, I actually could turn you both to ashes right now." Cog muttered, "But I won't, because I need one of you for questioning. So I'm going to let you chose: do I kill you now, and him later, or him first, and you later?"

"N…no! Eri run for the dragon!" as she said that, Luctiana threw herself against Cog's dagger, planning to kill herself, so at least Eri could outrun the man and warn her uncle. Instead, she was surprised when the dagger was moved away from her throat, and a fast kick on her calves send her stumbling on the ground in slight pain.

The next moment, a hit on the back of the head had her faint.

"Luctiana!" the elven boy yelled as he charged straight in, typical of idiots in love. When he saw Luctiana on the ground, he couldn't help but go near her, effectively exposing his back to the hidden tall man who, frying pan in hand, hit him on the back of the head, making him faint.

"I must remember to ask for implementation of such utility in silent warfare. It is quite enjoyable I must say" Cog muttered with a chuckle, and, after throwing it on the ground, proceeded to tie both the elves, removing their weapons, and then dumping them in a corner of the house. He took his time exploring the amenities of said wooden house, as he was just realizing how much stuff from the human of the modern time was in there, he heard another dragon land again, he had just finished grabbing an elven male desert robe.

"Really? What did he do with the nobles? Drop them in the desert sands and come back to look?" Cog muttered to himself, as he readied himself with the dagger. That one, he had to kill. For Charles.

Bidashal was actually looking strangely at the dragon, and even more was he looking towards his niece's house, because not a noise was coming through. He had thought about Eri and Luctiana actually cat fighting, like they usually did for some reason, he had let the boy go with the promise that after checking on her once more, in case the missing guide had been near and appeared, he would ride straight back. When he hadn't, he had actually dropped the nobles in the desert, and rode back on his dragon.

He silently prayed to the spirits of the earth to be his armor, and as he stepped inside, a set of daggers was thrown at him, which, however, served only as a minor distraction.

Standing on one side of the room was Eri, tied down and looking fine, if not for a big bruise on the right side of his face, done from a circular object.

On the other side was Luctiana, she had slight bruises all over her face, and whoever did that, was going to pay.

The man had to be a skilled guide, maybe a mercenary, or a mage, to take down two elves without flinching. Yet he wasn't there, the daggers had been thrown from a side of the room, and whoever did that had dashed in the other room as quickly as possible.

Bidashal moved towards the door that would lead into his niece's room, peaking a sight, he saw a strange form under the bed, and one more under the bed sheets. Two mercenaries? How did they think hiding there would work? That's when he saw the drawer slightly opened. It had to be a trap: that was it. Bidashal conjured the power of the air, to throw an air hammer at the drawer, staying straight in front of the door, not entering the room. Then he threw another one at the bed's sheet and at the bed frame, and as dresses and feathers from the bed's cushion flew around, the door suddenly crashed against his face, and a fist, breaking through the door, was strong enough to make him stagger. Stagger long enough for another fist to appear lower, and swing him off his feet and his balance. As Bidashal fell on the ground, the door fell on him, and whoever it was, quickly jumped on the door and then on the other side, even as the elf destroyed the door with a rock fist.

Bidashal stood up, panting, and turned around, as he did, his face paled, drastically.

"Shaitan…" he whispered, looking at Cog's bandaged face, the only thing visible were his eyes, but he would recognize that sheer size everywhere.

"Yes." Cog replied, making his knuckles crack.

"You were supposed to be…"

"Dead? Like the men you killed with your attack?" Cog said again, as he swiftly grabbed the dagger he still had on his right side with his right hand, and leaving the point at two millimeters from Luctiana's neck.

"She is not guilty of my charges" Bidashal whispered, "And is the only thing of my family left. Please, let her go…and I'll do everything you want" he might have managed to stall him long enough for either Luctiana or Eri to wake up, and then take him down.

"You know, destiny is such a strange thing. Fate and chance too." Cog whispered slowly.

"Usually, I would have accepted your offer. Right now, however, I am angry. Angry at the murderer of my men and angry at a servant of the Grehyr, but mostly, I am angry at myself, for not having killed you when I had the chance. Now I'll just have to make it more gruesome" as his eyes met those of Bidashal, the elf for once, felt that fear again. Cog wasn't yelling, or screaming, or looking angry. The glint in his eyes, however, was worthy enough to make even the elf wish to be elsewhere. As soon as Cog removed the dagger from Luctiana's throat, he charged through. Bidashal let loose a rock hand against Cog, who dashed around it like it wasn't even there. Bidashal cursed the Shaitan, fighting inside a wooden house with his niece and her fiancé meant he couldn't use fire spells, and had to control what spells he was going to use, because Cog always stood in front of him, giving his back to the fainted elves.

"You're a coward!" Bidashal angrily screamed, as he blocked with his hands crossed the dagger, thankful for his counter ability. This didn't stop Cog from kicking him in the front, and, while not damaging him, throwing him thanks to the momentum against the wooden wall.

"So what?" Cog replied, dashing once more, "If I can't crack your shell, I'll make you die from the inside" as he threw away the dagger, he closed his right hand into a fist, and his left one into an open claw-like form, and then punched him straight on the left side of his face, before clawing his left leg once more, and throwing him on the ground.

As Bidashal ended on the ground, he managed to call forth a tornado, which pushed Cog upwards, against the house's ceiling, but didn't stop him from breaking the wooden planks and exiting the house. For a moment, the elf thought it was over. That's when he turned to his niece, and realized she had a dagger, the dagger Cog had thrown away, planted inside her chest, near her heart. Bidashal ran to her side; the words of the demon echoing in his mind…_I'll make you die from the inside._

Now the elf saw what it was all about, he had barely grazed his niece's heart from the side, but it hadn't been luck, no, it had been a warning: He was going to come for him and him alone, and if he didn't, then he'd kill everyone he'd value until he'd show up.

The Shaitan should have taken him, but instead, he had wounded the weak. Now Bidashal had to do his best to heal her, and that would leave him too weak to start pursuing him.

Like a real demon, it had shown no mercy, and had called him a servant of the Grehyr. What was he talking about? After stabilizing Luctiana, and removing the dagger from her chest, he took a sigh in relief.

As Eri was slowly deposited on the floor, he opened his eyes, looking at Bidashal's face, surprised.

"What…what happened?"

"Everything is fine now…the man left"

"Who was he? Wait…you let him go?" Eri queried.

"No, he defeated me" Bidashal replied, to which Eri offered only a more shocked face, whoever it was; it had to be a monster.

The dragons of the elves had proven to be useful, after all. He had been on one long enough to fly a good mile or more; then had left for the second, while the first one kept going on the same direction. As a geometry teacher once told him, from two points only one line can be done. This wasn't always the case: especially in pan-dimensional realities were the third dimension proved that considering up and down changed completely the subject…of the course. Cog had done his best to forget about that skirmish, first he had to take down the Grehyr, certainly surrounded by top notch automated machineries, and maybe mind controlled minions of sort. He would refrain from using Psychic abilities until close enough to his target, however. That was when he saw the ragtag group of nobles waiting in the sand. Good. He simply kept going on a straight line from there, thankful for the day they invented turbans, so he could cover his ears, and, with the elven robe, he was no different from an elven dragon patrol rider, going back to the capital on an urgent business. Furthermore nobody even thought it could be possible for an elf to lose to a human, so, if he was on a dragon and wearing elven robes, he had to be an elf, even if a shy one.

After the fourth patrol, and a slight less time interval from another, Cog was sure he was on the right track, holding steadily onto the dragon, which being a mount didn't care much of who was riding it, as it was caring not to get killed by the bloodlust coming from the man on his back, did his best to keep a steady speed.

The Grehyr, their merciful overseers and leaders. Over thirty-two thousands of millions of Dystopian's had lost their lives in their hands, for experiments, for fun, for slavery, for boredom. They weren't clones. They were people. The memory of those who volunteered for what was a death sentence had been inserted into the Chronos of every soldier worthy of that name, the nature of the rotten souls they had come to battle and defeat etched deeply into the genes of every Dystopian. It didn't matter if they were considered dead or destroyed, if their worlds had been brought down in flames, the Grehyr had brought forth the Nerghulians, and such a threat would never know peace with the Dystopia ever again. Let eons pass and death die, but the bloodlust for revenge, for destruction, utter and complete annihilation of every single sentient Grehyr, or not sentient, for what it mattered, was still there. It had always been. It would always be there. Even as a slow trickle of blood came down from Cog's nose, the sign that his brain had begun the deterioration process, akin to those not able to handle Psychic enhancements, nothing made the Commander of Genocide stop his trail of thoughts. Sure, he had good chances he was going to die the moment the psychic enhancer would be turned off, or even if he didn't his brain would naturally retract with time. Sure, it was going to be a hellish pain to bear, dating many days or even weeks, but in the end, it didn't matter to him: a Grehyr would fall. Who would give up on a chance on that? The final blow to a dying race would come from his hands, and maybe, even if briefly, he might get a promotion. Beyond elite class, there was only one thing: Primus.

He'd have to fight the previous one for the title, obviously, but he had a hunch he'd let him win, if only for the fact he'd take it back the next week.

Shaking his head once more, his thoughts kept on drifting on different things, he realized he was just at the outskirts of the capital, what would have taken him weeks by foot or camel was now but a couple hours away…there he would surely find a clue as to where the Grehyr was. Then, he'd butcher him with glee.

*Elsewhere*

The mansion des Orniers had been divided into two big wings. On one side, stayed the Commander's family, on the other, the Vice-Commander's one. Furthermore, among the laws established in the corps, in case of death the family of the commander or vice-commander was entitled to stay in the mansion, provided it would either insert the firstborns or second born into the corps, or would otherwise live without marrying again. At death, it would pass on. In the meantime, similar identical mansions had been built a bit around the countryside, so, in actuality, there was no worrying about space or problems like this. The problem was that the dead commander's family actually was making the life of the new commander miserable. After having taken on the mantle, as it had been deemed appropriate to, the Commander had already lost Tabitha, who, reclaiming her real name as Charlotte moved to become the queen of Gallia, helped by both Tristain and Romalia, Germania had to cave in and accept it too.

Problem was she had pretty soon moved near the Des Orniers mansion, claiming she needed some time before completely taking over the throne, and would have done so more quickly, if surrounded by friendly faces, and protected by strong people.

Truth was Tabitha was secretly hoping to be the first one to meet once more Cog, because she wasn't so sure anything, even death, could keep him away.

To Tabitha, Kirche had been added too, because, after all, they were friends. Guiche had worried about the Commander's stress level, and had come too, together with Malicorne, and Reynal. Louise had come to visit her sister, but was actually doing her best to tail Saito around. Finally, Siesta had come too, because she was the personal maid of the Commander.

In the end half the house was occupied by Valliére's trying to console Eleonore, the other half by stressful subjects which made Saito distracted from work, which had started to pile up on his desk.

"Really, it needs to be done by tomorrow!" Guiche commented shaking his head, as he pointed to another pile of work.

"I'll pull an all-nighter then" Saito replied guilty of the charges, with a loud sigh. Sitting at his desk, scribbling down orders, he kind of hadn't expected it, really, but today was also meant to be his birthday. He'd turn eighteen; already two years had passed since his arrival there with Cog, yet looking at a small mirror, to the side of his desk, he couldn't help but wonder if those on the side of his temples were grey streaks of hair.

"You can't, because you'll be speaking with the Germanian industry officer, since you asked for those new types of forges to be delivered as soon as possible: he'll arrive at one in the night." Saito cursed the day he had seen the plans for high-temperature furnaces, capable of mass producing steel effectively, and had asked Kirche about them, she had happily obliged saying Cog had proven an interest in Germanian's metallurgy, and had queried some plans for refitting them and later updating them. The next moment, Germanian's steel production increased by the triple, and Tristain found itself gifted with twenty of those furnaces. When Cog had died, they had tried to talk their way out, but Saito had simply commented how the demon's daughters would simply act like their father. It had sufficed.

Saito looked once more at the amount of paperwork in front of him: he would have wanted to yell, but instead he muttered to Guiche:

"Fine then, no dinner for me it seems."

"By the way, the princess will be coming soon too, just in time for those hot springs to finish working…" Guiche hinted something, clearly, with his words, but Saito didn't catch it. No, actually he did catch it, but he refused to understand it. The hot spring water source had been found by chance, when Saito had planted Derflinger on the ground for a brief rest after stone-lifting and stone-running, words describing his usual training activity of lifting rocks and running with rocks.

"So?"

"Just saying we could avoid covering the roof and say it's an open bath…and from the roof of the mansion there is such a beautiful view of…"

"You're wishing he's going to come back and knuckle your head right?" Saito sighed, a small smile on his face. Guiche had stopped being a skirt chaser and a pervert a long time ago, he was clearly joking right about now.

"I do hope it, but I'll never say it out loud" Guiche replied, winking at Saito before leaving him to his work. He had work of his own; specifically to train the new group of Ondine guards awaiting him in the magic Academy…he kept on being pestered about going there as soon as possible.

Saito finally finished the pile of work just when the officer from Germania arrived, as he finished discussing with him, he returned to his desk to find it, yet again, filled with other paperwork. He sighed, and decided to sit down on the nearby sofa of his studio and close his eyes for five minutes,

It was dark. Damp. Droplets of water began falling down all around him. At the end of the cave a murmur called. Then it became a voice. It grew stronger. It made him angry at the voice, for no reason. He knew however he had to hate the voice. The voice was an enemy, it laughed at him, insulted him. The more he grew closer, the more the voice became unbearable. As his mind was about to crack open, he felt himself being pulled back, strongly pushed on the ground, and a silhouette stood now in front of him, fallen on the ground, there was little to no light, but it seemed like a charred corpse, who eyed him with empty eye sockets, before moving forward once more. _Do you fear the Darkness? _

Saito woke up with a shock, panting for air, as the nightmare had finally awoken him. He was on the floor, next to the sofa, with what seemed like a bedcover over him. At the desk, silently, Tabitha was writing, it was already dawn, yet the small blue haired girl didn't seem to notice Saito had awoken so abruptly.

"Tabitha?" Saito asked, curious as to why the girl was there.

"Never stay behind" she whispered back, finishing another page.

"I see…did you cover me?"

"No."

"Who did?" Saito asked, confusedly, as he stood back up, folding the bedcover by reflex.

"Don't know" Tabitha replied silently, before depositing the last page of work on the top of the stack, and then depositing the stack in the *work done* area of the desk.

"I see…isn't Percerine going to be worried?"

"Probably" Tabitha nodded, before standing up and moving in front of Saito.

"You need to fight on, call forth courage" she simply said with a nod, before leaving Saito, in his studio, perplexed.

That was when something suddenly awoke in Saito's mind. Fight on, call forth … that could have worked.

*Elsewhere*

Cog was at an impasse. He could either kill the guards who had stopped him, swiftly, and hoping none knew Counter magic or Psych shield, as he called it, or use psychic attacks himself or try the hardest gamble ever played, he did have slight chances of success, but really, slim to none. The guards had asked him why he was still wearing his turban indoor, and his face was covered with bandages, and had not accepted him being shy as a reply. Well, he did manage to explore a good half of the city, but the temple of the elves did seem to have more guards than usual. Something about the Shaitan gate having become active.

"You turned deaf? I am asking why you are not removing the turban" one of the four guards of the patrol asked again. As the others began reaching for their weapons.

"I do not want to show my face…" Cog pleaded in the most saddened tone ever. "I just wanted to pray inside, really…"

"Remove your bandages and your turban, now!" the guard snapped once more, drawing his knife. It seemed elves had a knack to use levitating knifes in fights.

Cog sighed, and slowly began removing the face's bandages; slowly and hesitantly…the guard looked at his face with growing shock and then pity, and muttered:

"Oh…it's enough, we're sorry" and left him to enter without much of a fuss. Cog quickly covered his face again, and bowing his head in thanks he entered the temple.

"Poor guy…must have been the crusaders near the borders, did you see his face? It was nearly all charred" one of the guards muttered.

"I heard they lost the Demon of Tarbes…I never believed they had more wicked means than a Shaitan" another one replied.

Cog's face had been charred, horribly so, but not by the explosion. He had managed to survive it, by dashing away as fast as he could, he had proceeded to char his face later on, with a hot iron surface, in order to, if not completely alter, at least give a justification for the bandages, if anyone ever asked. The important thing about lying was to tell as much truth as possible while spewing a net of lies.

The temple was more of a meditation area than anything else, except for a particularly well-guarded room, which seemed to hold no less than five guards around it, patrolling it with a mixture of nervousness and fear.

Cog simply sat to meditate on one of the mats provided, in front of what looked like a normal tree, except it seemed to have grown out of stone, and was made actually of small pebbles, rocks and the green was produced by jewels. It was beautiful to behold, but his thoughts already went towards how a crusader would probably smash it for easy money. He closed his eyes, and let the silence of the meditating place fill his ears. In that silence, he could feel it, a set of clicks, and clacks, of spinning mechanism and pumping wheels, he could feel the gushing of oil and petrol, coming deep beneath the temple, beyond the so called Shaitan gate. He could feel it hum with latent energy; he could nearly understand its form, if only by the creaks of the electrical discharges. He was there. He had only one shot, that one.

The guards saw a tsunami pass through them with disbelief, but that was before the tsunami itself froze, sending the guards to their deaths because of the thermic unbalance, as it broke off in pieces, Cog marched through the cleaned corridor, his eyes bloodshot, as the door was pushed out of its hinges by the sheer mental strength of his Psyche. Inside the room, a tall metallic circle cracked with electricity, as a control panel stood nearby. Both had been covered with strange protective charms, useless, but not for the elves it seemed. As they were smashed against the wall of the wide room, the control panel was now clear of interferences, and Cog quickly tapped on it, thankful that the scorn for the Grehyr had actually meant the intrinsic learning of their vocabulary and words. The metallic circle hummed to live, turning quickly, Cog didn't wait for it to stabilize, but launched himself against it, feeling every particle of his body being decomposed, and then recomposed, on the other side.

He looked around quickly, jumping behind the first useable cover, before finally taking his time to actually see where he was: a sort of damp cave, filled with tubes and mechanical contraptions which seemed to dig into the ground and the rocks and extract oil from it. The entire cave reeked of it, and just a little spark would have sufficed to light it all on fire, if it hadn't also been really damp, with water occasionally dripping downwards. Worst place for metal things, still, much of the Grehyr's works had an organical insight, so humidity was actually a bonus. He carefully held his breath, as he slowly crawled forward, not daring to turn on a light source. He heard the slushing sound of water displacement, and started running, just in time to see some sort of giant, grey oval-shaped creature which vaguely resembled a whale, look around a set of monitors with two small grey eyes, flapping small unused hands and feet, surrounded by all kind of mechanical machines, and two very much aggressive war exoskeletons.

It was to be said, the Dystopia was an empire of scavengers, the exoskeletons which covered the best soldiers, the Elite class, were actually copies of another type of exoskeleton: The Grehyr's foot infantry. Obviously, had they been the same as the one which was now in production, Cog would have stood no chance, but since the Grehyr had been in hibernation for a long time, those were really old models, he probably didn't even know he was one of the last of his kind, or that he was going to face someone who, while seeming one of a slave race, was indeed one of the strongest forces to be reckoned with... that was probably why it still hadn't started shooting.

"Slave…" it spoke through a machine next to the tank "Open your mind…this tires me" he said again. He was probably trying to talk to Cog's mind, to no avail however. Even if he wanted to, Psychic influences meant nothing to him now.

"This…" Cog muttered, his hands twitching, as his body trembled.

"This…is finally…revenge. For Omega Six. For Narlos Nine. For Possel Two. For all the worlds and planets that fell to the Nerghulians, for all the galaxies which bled in blood. I am 578639, Commander of Genocide, Elite Class! Behold my strength last member of a dead race!" and as he finished speaking, the Grehyr flinched.

In truth, the only reason Cog had spoken, instead of directly attacking, was to make him flinch. To make him stop for a second in disbelief. Because in that second, he could start ahead of the enemy. Before the machine guns began rattling their explosive rounds, and before the two suits could move, a barrage of molten rock spears threw itself forward at astonishing speed, followed swiftly by a set of stone fists, which shattered anything in front of him. The Grehyr had lost just a second, yet had found himself under such a fierce barrage that even the shields of his feeding tank was failing him. They were meant to last against plasma cannons! Just what was that slave throwing at him!

"This is the power of Psychic enhancer mark 7. If a rat can bend a spine, and tear apart a metal wall, what do you think an Elite can do!" as Cog yelled again words that for the Grehyr hold little to no meaning glyphs appeared around the tank, and from every direction rays of condensed heat and electricity shot forward. The trick to controlling elements was to understand that all elements exist in atomic sub-quantities in space. One might think that the more one uses something, the less he can use it later on. This is wrong concerning heat. Throwing a fireball is a difficult task the first time, but as long as it is thrown again, and again and again, it becomes easier. Because it is *not* conjured from thin air, but is the result of making the atoms of the air agitate themselves and move faster and quicker. If they are just about to slow down, it takes less effort to *Keep the heat on* than to wait and create it again.

The water which had frozen against the elves, before, was the same. It simply was the slowing down of elements in the air, which condensed into liquid, and then once it had covered the elves, Cog had stopped the atoms movement, freezing it. Afterwards, vibrations had brought down the elves to pieces.

A Psychic enhancer was no different from a macro in a computer. Only the computer was the human brain, and the macro was a set of specific hormonal stimulants. The best way to create heat, or freeze things, the best way to pierce with the air or slash with it.

Then, adding the basics one realized more complex things. Like plasma rays. The result of molten rocks atoms spinning around generate basic electron movement, which in turn was electricity, moving towards where there was a need of electrons, bringing heat with them. The molten rock spears held at their tip highly conductive materials, a thing the Grehyr would never have come to understand in time to save him: when the shields fell in a single swoop, the tank broke off immediately, and the limbless whale simply blew up from the inside out, leaving chunk of flesh everywhere.

Cog fell to his knees, gasping for air, feeling his head being torn apart by a hammer, or a saw. As the blinding pain finally took the better of him, he thought bitterly how, in the end, the Grehyr hadn't been that entire big problem. It had been easy to fight and defeat it…with a smug look, even in the face of pain and his impending death, he couldn't help but think how far the Empire had gone, and how far it would reach, as darkness shrouded his eyes, his last thought went to the fun he actually had on that planet…

"_Everyone is meant to die eventually. Right father? The only problem lies in the when. When is it okay to die? Once of old age? We no longer age. Our only death comes from battle or accident. Aren't we unlucky then?" "The only answer lies in surviving until someone comes up with the answer then. Sure, you could survive in hiding, but it wouldn't be fun. Nor would it bring peace to your mind. Survival is what makes human evolve, survival is what makes human realize their true strength, humans were the weakest of all the possible evolution branches on Earth, son. But we are here now, and you know why? Not because we were lucky, or because we were all smart: It's because we wanted to survive harder than anyone else." "You're not helping me at all, father" "Well, what could I say? You'll have to find your own answers son, because in the end, everything is subjective to one's own will, and therefore, everyone has his own right answers. Like you have your standards another one has his. Now however, you should wake up, and walk" "What?"_

"mmm?" he murmured, with his eyes closed, and feeling pain all over his body, the nerves probably kicking the bucket one by one, he could still feel a sort of light in front of him. He had no strength left to move, maybe it would be better to just lie there and stay dead. Underground, he'd have no way to heal the post-shock, and with all due probability, he had just lost a good fifty percent of mobility. Nerves would eventually regrow, but it would take years. Even decades. As he stood now, he had no chances to move out of there. The light stayed there, however. Insisting. He couldn't lift an eyebrow, much less move a muscle, and yet the light kept staying there. Surviving huh? Fine, the light was probably a fire started by the remaining heat in the air, and the walls did have oil trickling down after all. He wasn't going to move another muscle. Surviving had been his knack, every time a dire situation arose, he'd find a way. Now however he was at his wits end. There simply was no way he would be able to move away from the light which was growing in intensity. It was then that something pulled him upwards. He had no idea what it was, or who it was, he just felt someone pulling him up, and then bringing him closer to the light, inside the light.

-ah…so it's like this…the Original has already claimed me, and now I am walking through the Darkness of trial, towards the Light of salvation…I'm just plain dead and hallucinating-

He was then deposited on what felt like grass, and there he could actually feel hands touching him all around. –What is this? I knew heaven was an ideological thought of the mind, but I didn't expect it to be this…touchy-

Cog felt a tingling sensation of relief as slowly parts of his body resumed being sensitive, it was probably the effect of his hallucinations, the last joke to his already proved nerves. Yet, as he felt the pleasure increase he exhaled slowly, and suddenly got hugged by someone at the neck.

He slowly opened an eye; then he closed it again. Yeah, hallucinations.

The next morning, he woke up in an ample bed. Sitting on a chair, her face leaning against the bed covers, using her arms as pillows, was Eleonore, right next to her, on another chair was Henrietta. He felt something stirring at the base of the bed, and turning his half-closed eyes' gaze there, he met the one of Cerbera, who seemed to have just woken up, but in truth had simply decided to move into a more comfortable position, albeit being still sleepy, and had begun slowly walking towards him, on all fours, without being halted, or waking up any of the other woman attending him, she cozily laid against his side, and fell asleep once more. Not before whispering to Cog's ear, however, the following words which made Cog fear in dread the coming day.

"Once you wake up, father, you're getting bashed by everyone" with such a sleepy, happy and gentle tone that Cog knew, yes, he knew, it was better he feigned sleep for the next days. Or weeks maybe. Just enough time for his brain to deteriorate past the *feeling pain* level.


	28. Chapter 28: DDay, Dragon & Dystopian

**Slight mention to *mature content* down ahead (like, a long way down). (really, a long, long way down). That said, the next one is probably going to be the last chapter, than the epilogue, and maybe one omake or two…or probably on to a next great adventure. *Already has plans for the next story***

Chapter Twenty-eight

Cog was in an obvious predicament: he could open his eyes, and face the angry stare of his wife, Eleonore, or he could still fake being asleep, hoping not to give it away with a smudge grin he was trying to suppress. He could feel Eleonore's hand pinching his left cheek, and moving it up and down, and along the sides.

"Open your eyes…come on…" she muttered, even sounding cute at that, how could a man resist? Well, Cog could, especially because he knew that, next to his wife, there also was his sister, arms crossed, and slightly tapping with a foot on the ground.

"Brother…we know you're faking…would you open your eyes now?" Henrietta stated.

"Father you are probably conserving strength to dash out of the room; know that it is useless, for Rayne is at the window, Cerbera is on the right side of the bed, and I am in front of the door, together with Siesta who has a frying pan at the ready" Mary said, before quickly adding "Furthermore, I believe Saito is on the other side of the door, with Louise, and downstairs there also should be your mother-in-law and father-in-law."

That was precisely what Cog had thought, and was also the reason why he wasn't going to give up his fake sleep alibi, even if it was starting to deteriorate.

"Maybe we could use some strength to wake him up, your majesty" Eleonore suggested, to which Henrietta, giving a pensive thought, placing her right hand on her chin then said:

"I told you to call me Henrietta, Eleonore, we *are* family now…I suppose we could use some force…"

Cog had heard enough, so he casually and slowly opened up his left eye; looking at the fuzzy figures in the room, he sighed: his eyesight hadn't deteriorated, thankfully, but he had lost the ability to immediately process what was in front of him. Kind of when you are still half asleep and cannot focus what's in front of you. After a while, he opened also his right eye. Pitch black. He corrected himself: he had lost some vision.

"There you are, darling" the way in which Eleonore said the darling was half affectionate and half angry, but she did stop pinching his left cheek, instead placing said hand on Cog's head, to delicately move his hair out of his sight. Oh, he hadn't lost some of his vision then. He just had some sort of overgrown hair all over his head. Considering he had kept it short, to have grown so much was puzzling.

"Now, brother, why don't you explain what happened? Why did you fake your death?" Henrietta asked, clasping her hands together in a much girly way, but tilting slightly her head to the side, with a small grin which made it clear that she was going to bash him up at the first wrong word. Eleonore puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms, and then nodded with a grave expression.

"I want to hear it too. No lying to your wife"

That was when Cerbera casually moved her head on Cog's chest, nuzzling it with a satisfactory purring sound, and muttering:

"If father lies I'll know it this way"

-Is this a conspiracy?- Cog could only think about it, when Mary, seeing how a spot just opened up next to Cog on the bed, swiftly grabbed his hand, placing two fingers in a motion similar to check his pulse.

"Double checking is better" she said, even though she did look a bit flustered.

"Not fair!" Rayne pouted "We said we wouldn't show him how worried we were until after he had explained!" stomping her feet in a cute way, she moved as close as possible to her father, looking saddened by the fact there simply was no space nearer.

Cog shook his head at this scene, with a small smile, and then muttered a couple of words:

"I'm…kind of…hungry, you know"

"Food can wait until you explain yourself brother" Henrietta replied, albeit she did make a gesture to Siesta, who was actually there for that reason, and silently exited the room, just to be replaced by both Saito and Louise, who dashed in with but a question in mind:

"Is he fine?"

"Could be better" Cog replied, feeling a slight headache creeping onto him.

"I might have…overused my brain…it shouldn't be…anything worrisome" he slowly added.

"Why would you *overuse* your brain, dear?" Eleonore asked, closing her eyes to fissure and staring at him intensely.

"I might have entered a slight fight with some elves" he whispered.

"Didn't understand that" Henrietta said, to which a "Me neither" came from Louise's and Saito's side.

"You fought with elves, father? Like the Tolkien ones?" Rayne asked chirping, since she did, after all, have a keen ear.

"No, elves here are naturally born psychic" Mary replied, "I did scout their land, but I realized they had some nasty tricks, like psych armor and a natural control of elements... Father, why where you in the desert?" Eleonore heard that sentence, and threw a slap at Cog's face.

"Elves? You faked your death to fight elves! You could have gone at the head of the Crusade to fight elves! I cried on another's dead body, all because you couldn't wait for the Crusaders to regroup!" slowly, tears began falling on Eleonore's cheeks, and then on her tightly clasped hands.

"You've better have a good explanation. A really good one" she muttered again.

The slap had sent Cog's head, which already had a slightly creeping headache, on the borderline, and then, with the yelling, had sent it over the edge.

Now, if it had been any normal headache, there would have been no problems, considering however how Cog's brain was still recuperating from the previous effort, this was enough to send him, once more, unconscious.

"He fainted" Mary commented surprised, to which Cerbera muttered "Confirmed. He fainted…not good", Rayne looked at the scene and then silently left the room, without saying a word.

"Well, he was nearly dead when he appeared in the summoning portal" Saito said, "I kind of wonder how he even managed to walk through it, seeing how he was covered in blood."

Henrietta shook her head, "At first I thought so too, but he hadn't a wound on his body, so it kind of seemed strange. Except from the nose, but nobody would have ever lost that much blood from a nosebleed"

"Father said it before; he over-exerted his brain fighting elves" Mary whispered, "He's probably done with the military for life".

"What do you mean?" Eleonore asked, drying her tears in a napkin.

"Well…mental overexertion can bring around many problems, ranging from slight permanent headaches to outright cerebral death." Cerbera spoke in a low voice, "one of the most common however is the reinforcement of natural defense mechanisms inside the brain. Like when seeing new things, being surprised, or simply sustaining too much damage, the brain usually sends a signal once a threshold is reached, signaling how to act, or what to do. In the case of father, I suppose that, reached a certain threshold, he simply faints…he'd be useless in fights; and more of deadweight than anything"

"Cerbera!" Mary snapped at the younger sister, "We can't be sure".

"Wait…does this mean he won't be able to participate in the Crusade?" Henrietta queried.

"That isn't such a bad thing: we'd actually have time for a honeymoon" Eleonore said, starting to think.

"Cog is probably not going to take it easily" Saito said then, looking at the sleeping man with a face filled with relief, but worry, "He's been a soldier all his life, he survived where others did not, and now all his sacrifices will be for nothing, because he'll be removed from duty…"

"He'll find something to do! It's not like a man has to always think about duty this, and duty that!" Louise muttered, badly eyeing Saito.

"You seem to know my husband pretty well, Marquis Hiraga" Eleonore whispered, "I kind of feel like a good chunk of his life is unknown to me".

"Well…that can be solved even without him around…actually it's probably easier without him around" Mary said, before being interrupted by Cerbera:

"You're going to use the Chronos projection? You know father is probably going to be mad"

"He can be mad as much as he wants, he'll faint outright" Mary replied with a chuckle "But the choice isn't mine to take: so, *mother*, do you want to see father's past or not?"

Eleonore clasped her hands together; it even could be seen on her face, the conflict which was taking place in her mind. On one side, she was a researcher, and was naturally curious about pretty much everything, furthermore she was after all his wife. On the other hand, she was his wife: shouldn't she simply wait until he'd give his approval? She bit her lower lip, and remained pensive for a while, before shaking her head.

"I'll wait for him to tell me" Eleonore said, before turning her gaze back to the sleeping face of Cog.

"Fine then" Mary replied, shrugging. As an embarrassing silence filled the room, Henrietta gasped, kind like one who suddenly remembers something.

"I'll have to warn the pope about this, though it wouldn't change his actions much…he already had named another crusade commander" Henrietta muttered "Which is also the reason why I came here in the first place…but yesterday's event made me completely forget about it…"

"It couldn't be…" Louise muttered: her eyes bulging as a sudden sixth-sense seemed to have given her the right cue.

"Marquis Des Ondines Hiraga Saito…you are the new crusade commander, by order of his holiness, the pope" Henrietta said, turning to Saito who was surprised too.

"What?" Saito exclaimed surprised, to which a low grumble came as a reply from Cog, who slowly reopened his eyes.

"There is a saying" Cog muttered "if you wake up someone abruptly, at least have some coffee ready for him" as he tried to stand up, and lean his back against the bed frame, he was surprised to feel a slight pain in the chest area. Looking carefully, sure enough, Cerbera had pinned him down.

"No moving for the sickly" she whispered.

"That…doesn't apply for me" Cog retorted.

"Instead I believe it does" Eleonore snapped, albeit at a lower tone of voice, sitting on the bed side, clasping one of Cog's hands with one of hers.

"You mind telling us what happened, now?" she whispered.

"Fine" Cog sighed, as it seemed like they wouldn't let him off so easily.

"Saito, when the battle was over, I'm sure Mary rushed over to say not to cross into the Gallian camp, right?" Cog asked Saito, who nodded "That was because she had discovered that the Gallian camp commander had been ordered by the king, to booby trap the camp, so it would blow off when the Crusader's troops would come in".

"That's monstrous! His wounded men might have been there!" Henrietta gasped, placing a hand in front of her mouth.

"Father, you told me you were the one who had swapped the orders" Mary replied, looking at her father with a surprised look.

"I lied. I realized it then that whoever was in charge of this planet had awoken." Cog replied.

"You mean the Grehyr things, right?" Saito queried, "So why didn't you say so immediately? Why did you use this trickery?"

"When you fight an unseen enemy, you have to start by exclusions, Saito." Cog muttered, "How did the info swap itself? Was the Grehyr in Gallia? Was he in Tristain? Was he hiding in a mountain or down below a lake? There was no way to know at the time, so I had to start with what I knew: Mutations generated by a psych-wave enhancer could only come from a solar generator, since a nuclear one would be too risky. The only place with enough power would be the desert, but such a big structure would surely be noticed in human lands, or spoke of in history, so it had to be somewhere humans didn't go; somewhere relatively peaceful, like the Saharan."

"What are you talking about? What's a Grehyr?" Eleonore asked, surprised. She hadn't been told about that yet.

"Well…aliens?" Cog replied with a *isn't it obvious?* look which made Eleonore pout.

"Oh, excuse me if I'm still digesting the thought that there is some sort of thing far bigger than I've ever seen or heard of, and that it's not even empty!"

"The universe is not a *thing* it's a definition of space and…" Cog replied, feeling another headache coming his way.

"Dad, go on with the story, no derailing: questions at the end." Cerbera snapped at both Cog, who was trying to speak, and Eleonore, who wanted to reply.

"So, since I didn't even know if he was using satellites or organic cameras, or the like, I had to feign my death, the explosion came at the right time…I dropped my stuff on the ground, and then ran as fast as I could, grabbing some normal peasant's clothes in the meantime. Then I reappeared to move my charred and metal medals on a random corpse." As he said that, Henrietta turned green.

"Brother…you left the water mages of your corps to die…is that true?"

"They would have died anyway: I wouldn't have been able to reach them in time, and had I even tried, I wouldn't have had the time to avoid the blast myself." Cog replied, bitterly looking sideways. "It did not come easy, but I had no other choice: I hid my face, moving towards the nearest city, where I proceeded to burn it by night at a smith's, by doing so I could actually wear bandages, without looking suspicious" he sighed, before adding "I also chipped away the borders of my ears, burning them too, so that I could try and pass off as a tortured elf, then." Henrietta became even greener, as Saito muttered:

"So that was why you looked having been roughed up"

"Self-inflicting wounds? That's some resolve…" Louise muttered, thinking that probably it was on the same level with her mother, Karin.

"Some of those were pretty gruesome, brother! You can't tell me you did them all by yourself!" Henrietta exclaimed shocked. The headache slowly began increasing in intensity in Cog's head.

"No yelling, please" he whispered back, before adding "Meh, there was that time where I had to chop off an arm, trapped under a steel building. The new one grew back in a couple of months"

"New…one? Chopped? I need a seat" Henrietta whispered, as she fainted, not falling on the ground because Saito quickly moved to grab her.

"GO on with the story, please" Eleonore muttered, clenching her fists tightly, till her knuckles went white. How many things she didn't know? She knew he was old, but she thought that out of two hundred and more years, there could only be just enough facts for a single afternoon of leisure talk…maybe she had undervalued the problem.

"Well…I managed to reach the town near Alhambra castle, closest to the elven border, there I grabbed some nobles who were going treasure hunting in the desert, and spent most of the time looking around, following maps they had obviously been scammed on about artifacts and the like. That's when I discovered a sort of Oasis, with vines guarding it; since vines don't grow on palms I supposed they actually were magical. I carefully bypassed it, and made my way in. It was night when I entered the oasis, and I went towards the center of this lake, which seemed to have a big empty column, in truth it was the tail of a bomber plane from the Second World War. You'd never guess what I found inside and how…"

"No derailing father, get to the point" Mary said with a stern look on her face.

"So, after going all the way till there, I waited the morning, ambushed the elf who lived in the house, then another, and finally I fought my way with the third one, and escaped with both their dragons" Cog said quickly, he didn't want to mention anything more, but Eleonore seemed to have gone paler.

"You…you fought three elves? Alone?" she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Well, I did have the terrain advantage, and I didn't manage to land any killing hits…but I did manage to get a direction towards the elven capital which is where I went next"

"You went towards the elven capital alone!" Louise and Eleonore both shrieked that, the first in surprise, the second in disbelief and horror. The headache kicked in once more, and suddenly, Cog was again sleeping peacefully.

"Don't dare sleep now! Tell…" Eleonore yelled, grabbing him by the shirt's collar he was wearing, and pushing him up and down. At least, that would have been the plan, hadn't Cerbera stopped her.

"No touching father! He's still wounded, you know!" she pouted, grabbing her hand before she could lift him up even once.

"I'm starting to think he's faking it" Eleonore muttered, letting go of Cog's shirt, but Mary shook her head.

"Pulse is regular…well…let's just wait…"

"I can't believe him. He fakes being dead after what, three weeks or less of marriage, marches towards the most dangerous continent of Halkeginia to fight elves and aliens, and even then, he doesn't even show a hint of guilt? Can't believe it, I simply can't..."

"Well, we could let him actually rest instead of waiting and waking him up again" Mary suggested, "Maybe in a couple of days he might be able to hold a conversation of more than five minutes." She added.

"I suppose…where did Rayne go, by the way?" Henrietta asked, seeing how the girl had left without a word.

"Well…knowing her she's on her way to the Saharan to kill elves." Cerbera muttered, shrugging "I can reach her in half an hour of dash. So I wasn't keen on following her"

"Would you please bring her back? I've had enough of people going to fight elves." Eleonore snarled.

"Fine, *Mother*, I'll go and get her immediately" as she said that, Cerbera stood up and left the room.

"Was she being sarcastic?" Eleonore asked Mary, who had in the meantime stood up and had gone near the window.

"Don't know, don't care, won't ask" the violet-haired woman replied, looking back with a smile.

Saito had just descended the stairs, to reach for the stables, when something moved quickly against him. Only his reflexes allowed him to jump down by the side of the handrail, rolling on the floor and naturally moving his hand for Derflinger, and only then realizing he had left him in his room.

-Never move without a weapon! - He had thought he'd be save in here, seemed like he didn't take into account assassins.

The figure seemed big, but cloaked it was difficult to pinpoint its natural size. It kind of kneeled on the ground, and suddenly golems sprout up, charging on Saito. It looked like Guiche's ex way of fighting, so Saito did the only natural thing he could do, he jumped backwards, and began running as fast as he could, avoid earthen lances thrown at him, towards the outside.

The figure followed him at a distance, and only when Saito actually stepped outside he realized that could have pretty much been a trap too. True to the word, two other people were outside; these ones however weren't cloaked at all. One of the two looked like a gothic Lolita, with violet hair, daggers in hand she had that sort of satisfactory grin on her that made Saito nervous. The other looked like a musketeer, wielding a rapier and a big broad-brimmed hat; they didn't wait a second, not even to present themselves that they were already charging at him. From behind Saito, the big man charged too, mace in hand and ready to strike. It was flawless, the plan would have been flawless, but the next second, Saito was abruptly grabbed by the neck and pushed to the side by a rocket-boot wielding demon, who deposited him to the side, landing next to him.

"Who are they?" Rayne asked Saito, with a slightly angry tone.

"Assassins, I think" Saito replied "I'm going to get a weapon, can you…" but he didn't finish the sentence that the rapier wielding guy charged through at an incredible speed, as the point of his rapier was about to hit him straight in the head, it stopped, jumping backwards as Rayne had taken that moment to use a combat knife and take him in during his momentum.

Without hesitation, Rayne threw another knife at Saito's feet, and then proceeded to exchange blows with the rapier wielding assassin, who seemed to keep on par with Rayne's movement.

"My, you're an amateur" the assassin said with a sleazy voice, Saito however didn't have much time to concentrate on his words, because as soon as he grabbed the knife the other two were on him.

He managed to dodge a blow from the mace wielding assassin, who, when his mace hit the ground, made it crack, as rocks shot forward, covering the movements of the girl.

The next moment, from Saito's side the girl tried slashing at him with her daggers, but Saito knew the trick, having sparred with Cog long enough to recognize it: distract the front, attack the side. He pierced straight through, with no fear, and the girl had to stop the movement to avoid death, rolling to the side with a yelp.

"Jeanette, get back!" the man with the mace yelled at the girl, as he saw their mark charging at the girl without hesitation. Those were their own eyes: those of a murderer, not of a petty noble. Saito lunged the knife forward, in an attempt to aim at the girl's leg, but failed to do so, as the girl scrambled back on her feet too quickly, jumping backwards.

*elsewhere*

"Professor Colbert, can I ask a question?" Tiffania asked the professor, before beginning her summoning ritual.

"Yes, miss Westwood?" the professor replied gently to one his students, maybe not the brightest, but certainly the most peculiar.

"What if the creature I conjure is…dangerous?" she asked worried about what it could happen to the rest of her class, who had already done their summoning.

"Once through the portal, the familiar is usually benevolent, Miss Westwood, as long as the contract is completed in time, it shouldn't be hostile" the professor explained gently, receiving a nod of comprehension from Tiffania, it went on adding "now concentrate, and call forth the familiar which comes from the depth of your heart"

Tiffania concentrated, and then slowly raised her wand.

A bright green portal appeared straight in front of the elf girl, and she stood there in wait, slightly trembling.

*Elsewhere*

"Synchronization found!" yelled a voice with a nearly ecstatic tone in the main control deck of the "Dark Sun" flagship.

"Hold it there! Find its objective and pinpoint it!" the fleet commander yelled, "Warn the Psychics to begin overwrite and breakthrough procedures!"

"Alarm, unauthorized synchronization on Cargo bay twelve. I repeat: unauthorized use of synchronization on cargo bay twelve" the alarm from the fleet's Ai went on, and suddenly the commander's face darkened.

"It bypassed the anti-psych shields? Have the First Platoon handle it!" as the voice boomed through the Net, it reached all the way down to the cargo bay twelve, where a Psychic had been dozing off together with a couple of cold beers, when he had awoken to a strange buzzing sound, opening his eyes, he had seen the green portal, and had heard the alarm go on. He opened his arms wide, to stretch, before emptying his mind of thoughts and distractions. His four white Neuronal Connectors hummed happily, in harmony, as they all began concentrating their Psyche towards the portal, which had begun turning blackish.

*Elsewhere*

"Professor…is it normal?" Tiffania asked worriedly, as a black portal had slowly replaced the green one, and had then slowly begun expanding.

"No…it isn't" Professor Colbert moved in front of his students "Go and call all the teachers!" the professor yelled, before wielding his staff in front of him.

In less than minute, the professor found himself on the ground, his staff smashed to the side and an inhumane strength pinning him down. The students began screaming, before falling to the ground too, like pushed down by an incredible force.

That was when they appeared. The first was the one who had actually pinned down the professor, a demon who resembled Cog, and was holding down Colbert in some sort of fighter's move. Another one instead, with four strange white tubes on his back, was keeping his hands up in the air in front of the crowd of students and familiar, and was probably the reason they were pushed down. Tiffania was among them too, gasping for air.

The portal flickered once more, and this time, more demons appeared. Wielding strange prolonged muskets, which were actually highly advanced rifles, they moved in formations of four, surrounding soon the students, and moving to the corners of the courtyard, becoming invisible, and moving inside the academy with military precision.

Then a strange, big and monstrous creature emerged from the portal, which had actually widened for the sheer size of the beast. As tall as a three story building, muscles rippled through all his body, mechanical tubes, and strange red and black sacks on his back which pulsed rhythmically, were everywhere and seemed all to connect to the hands and the mouth of the beast, which stood there, breathing slowly. It took a step forward, and the earth trembled, another step, and some students actually began crying.

After him, two strange black four legged things came out, they looked mechanical, like spiders, but with strange straight metal poles on their head. They dashed off, towards the top of the tower.

Soon, the courtyard was filled with the captured staff, the students which remained, and the servitude. Being pointed strange red light beams against, from the muskets of the demons, finally a man appeared through the portal, wearing a white cape, a golden staff in his right hand, and a white sphere in his left, he advanced, his golden eyes moving through the people amassed with clinical gaze, his white short hair unfazed by the wind.

A demon reported to this sort of angel with a guttural sound:

"No casualties reported on both sides, Primus"

"Well done, sergeant. Is the signal okay?" the reply came with a melodic and angelic voice, one which many would have vouched for, was devoid of sin.

"Yes Primus. We are starting triangulation procedures."

"Any sign of the crashed?"

"None at present, but a slight source of magnetic camp has been revealed on a balcony in the academy: Demon Mark Two armor has probably stayed there recharging for a while, Primus"

"Have the engineers deploy a defensive perimeter, and bring me who's responsible for opening the Synchronization in the first place" the Primus replied, and as soon as he said that, Professor Colbert was lifted on his feet and brought forward, a sharp claw at his neck, and another holding both his arms tightly crossed behind his back.

"You the Psychic?" the Primus asked, with a curious tone.

"Just who are you people! What gives you…" but a sharp pain, and a loud crack made him stop, as he fell to his knees on the ground, he screamed out of pain.

"You will address the Primus with respect, or you will suffer" the demon behind him commented, keeping his hold on the professors arms.

"mhhhhh!" Tiffania would have yelled that it was her who had opened the portal, but she couldn't manage to, a strange metallic sort of gag was in her mouth, preventing her from speaking.

"The girl wants to say something, Primus" another demon said, pointing at Tiffania. Unknown to her, the gag was actually a metallic pheromone transceiver. To put it simply, it would report any and all changes in emotions, from fear of being killed, to determination in escaping, to desire to solve a matter peacefully.

"Bring her here then" the Primus said, letting the Demon move closer to Tiffania, and grabbing her in the same way professor Colbert had been grabbed, carrying her in front of the Primus. Professor Colbert instead was gagged once more, before he could protest, and thrown bag into the crowd of prisoners.

"What is it, girl?" the Primus asked, moving a hand in front of her gag, which slowly retracted, allowing her freedom of speech.

She nervously bowed her head repeatedly, tears running down her eyes:

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, really…it's my fault! Please mister angel, let the professors and the students go. Please!" she whimpered once more. The Demon behind her…chuckled.

Half the demons in the area actually fought their impulses to laugh out hard; the other half simply couldn't.

"Oh, what's so funny huh?" The Primus asked, and at that moment the demons silenced themselves, then, he added, "I am a Primus, it's not *Angel* it's Primus. Mister Primus, if you so insist. Now, I'm going to ask you some questions. The sooner you answer, the sooner you will all be freed, okay?" as he said that everyone actually believed that. Work of the pheromones which were delivered into the air through the Mark Two Demon Suit.

"Yes, Mister Primus." Tiffania nodded, happily.

"What were you doing?"

"Conjuring a familiar mister Primus…it's a ritual done every year to graduate to the second year, we call forth our familiar and then…"

"Stop. Do you know of a certain Elite 578639? Commander of Genocide? Elite Class? Codename should be Cogmk2…" the Primus asked again.

"Cog? Oh! You're Cog's empire! Dystopia something, right?" Tiffania replied, her eyes showing a bit of shock and, at that point, a series of people in the mass began muffling, trying to get their attention.

"Well…Yes…but how do you know about the Dystopia?" the Primus was perplexed, speaking of things with…primitives? Was high treason. 578639 was an Elite class, he wouldn't fall for such petty things, heck, why would he even speak? The laws on first encounter should have him play the silent and dumb person, until it finds a suitable niche to begin an operation of intelligence.

"Not everyone knows it: Cog is the brother of the Queen of Tristain, Henrietta, so when we went to…"

"Wait. Brother? To a Queen of … Tristain is the name of this world?" the Primus was starting to understand a pattern in there.

"It's the name of this country, and the Queen is called Henrietta, and she's Cog's sister, because they have the same father…" at that moment a sort of lamp shone brightly into the Primus' mind, that, and the fact that he had queried the Ai in his brain to make a quick check on 578639.

"Oh now I get it. Judgment is unnecessary then…sorry about all this then. Guys! All clear! Down with the weapon and get me a medic to set that guy's arm! Move it, quick, quick!" the Primus said, and suddenly the demons became a lot less scarier, as excuses flew in the air, gags were removed and a man dressed in red moved close to professor Colbert and in less than a minute set, fixed and repaired his arm, making it look like it had never been broken. Some demons even began happily chatting with the students, in such an instantaneous way that many were outright surprised by it. It was like seeing the day and night cycles suddenly change.

"So…where is *Cog* now?" the Primus asked then, gently and smiling.

To that, Tiffania, sadly looked down at the green grass without saying a word.

*Elsewhere*

"You're pretty good!" the girl, named Jeannette said, as she was beginning to tire out, but kept a smile on her face, to confuse the opponent. Even on a two versus one, they had to be careful. He wasn't the Marquis des Ondine for nothing, but even then, they weren't the knights of the North Parterre for nothing.

"Jack! Try and keep him still!" she yelled at the mace wielding assassin, who concentrated, conjuring more golems which dashed around Saito, broadswords in hand.

As Jeannette closed in again, a spear was thrown downwards, missing her by less than an inch, but effectively stopping her from nearing Saito.

"I missed. Damn it!" Guiche muttered, from where he was. "Casting while levitating is so difficult!" he added to Reynal, who was next to him and had a flaming sphere at the tip of his wand.

"You see, Vice-commander, what you need is control over the wrist" and, with a swift motion, the sphere flew downwards, the explosion smashing apart the golems, but leaving Saito, who had ducked to the side, unscathed. "See? This I'm taking about"

"Hey you two! Come down here and help me!" Saito yelled upwards.

"Who would renounce a tactical terrain advantage?" Guiche replied, asking it to Reynal with a grin.

"Not I, Vice commander. Not I." Came the reply and then they both began chanting.

Rayne on the other hand was having fun. The guy was fast, not much, but fast enough to keep track with her movements. It had to be said that Soldier Course's knife fights were made to be quick and fast. If a soldier had to rely on a knife and not on a rifle, then something was either extremely wrong or the soldier was simply going to become a dead soldier soon. The fact Rayne actually knew something about close quarter combat was due to her father, who had, once reunited with his daughter, trained her in that, if only as an excuse to bash her up.

"Obviously father did it because he was kind. Look now, we are fighting him evenly!" she chirped to herself.

"Yeah, keep believing it" she replied again, with a colder voice.

"Miss…you wrong in the head?" the rapier wielding assassin didn't go as far as finish the sentence, that Rayne accelerated once more, planting a fist straight against the assassin's face.

"I am not crazy!" she yelled, as another hit connected to the first, and the combat knife was discarded. That speed was exponentially higher than before, and that alone would have sufficed, had Bleu not been actually good at his job. He created an air swipe on the ground, throwing him backwards in combination with the strongest jump he could muster, stopping the series of punches which would have probably left him with a destroyed face.

"You are not. Obviously" Bleu replied, spitting a tooth out of his mouth.

"See, I told you" the girl then resumed her normal speed and kept on pressing against bleu, like she was having fun.

That was when a red flash moved forward, hitting Bleu on the side and throwing him straight on the ground, as fangs, which seemed made of steel, stopped at inches away from his neck. A girl no more than fourteen stood there, metallic claws and fangs, like a beast.

Rayne stopped and looked at her sister, while puffing her cheeks "Not fair! I was fighting him first!"

At that moment, just when Jack was retreating due to a set of steel spears landing on the ground in front of him, the earth suddenly transformed into water, plunging everyone underneath it, except for a guy with a sort of trombone, standing on said instrument.

"Brother Damien!" Jeannette yelled, as the water pushed her away from Saito's knife, together with Jack and Rapier-wielding assassin.

"We did what we had to do" he muttered, and then, as quickly as they had arrived, they left.

"Damn it! They got away! You could have hit them from above!" Saito growled at both Reynal and Guiche.

"No can do. We had to get you and the red haired girl out of the water before it turned back to stone commander." Guiche replied, steadying his levitation as he gently dropped Saito to the ground, after having lifted him up. Reynal did the same with Cerbera, while Rayne had no need for help, having her own method of flight.

"Just what is it that they wanted to do?" Cerbera asked, before widening her eyes… "They couldn't have come for…father!" as she said that she started running back inside the mansion.

"Father? Isn't the Commander dead…" Guiche stopped, as he looked at Saito's face who was shaking in a *no* way.

"…he's alive! The commander is alive! Thank you Brimir! Thank you founder! I won't have to do desk work any longer! I'm back to being a sergeant!" Guiche yelled, jumping around happily, before starting to run inside the mansion too.

Cerbera wasn't however the first to barge into Cog's room, actually, it was Rayne, who being a Soldier followed the most traditional and effective mean to reach a destination: Going straight and breaking anything on its path.

So, when Rayne broke the window, she startled an again awoken Cog who was in the process of planting a kiss on Eleonore's face.

"What…is going on?" Cog queried. He had managed to stay at the very least alone with his wife, and yet Rayne had smashed through a window.

Through a window which was going to be a hassle to repair.

"You shouldn't break windows" Eleonore added to that, nodding and recollecting herself.

"Assassins! They went after you father?" Rayne asked worriedly, getting closer.

Cog shook his head. "I doubt it…however we do have royalties in the mansion…we should go and check" as he said that, he tried standing up once more, but was pushed down by Eleonore.

"I'll go. You stay right here" Eleonore muttered, "Rayne, can you take care of him while I'm gone?"

"Yes, ma'am" the girl replied with a broad smile, at least, if she hadn't had the helmet on it would have been seen that she was smiling.

As Eleonore left the room, Cog was left alone with Rayne, who started fidgeting.

"Yes. The answer is yes, Rayne" Cog sighed, knowing his daughter all too well.

"Will it be a brother or a sister?" she asked innocently.

"I still don't know! Oh…come over here" he muttered, waving at Rayne to get closer.

"Listen, Mary already told me the hard deal. It's not a problem for me, really; so, no killing elves until they get judged, alright?"

"But they harmed father" Rayne replied.

"No, they tried to, never managed." Cog replied with a chuckle.

"Fine…but only because you asked" the girl said, crossing her arms.

Five minutes later, everyone was found fine and in good health. So without people dead around the mansion, it was probably a theft of some sort which had occurred. Tabitha was sitting slightly nervously on the sofa with next to her Queen Henrietta, and the Duchess, Karin together with her husband, Louise was sitting on another sofa, next to Saito. They were planning on leaving after imposing themselves for so long. That was when Guiche and Reynal who were standing, nearly fell into manly tears at the sight of Cog slowly descending the stairs, they actually would have run to hug him, had Eleonore not looked at them with a *Try that and I'm snapping your necks* face.

As Cog sat down, he steeled himself for the upcoming speech.

"You actually feigned your death and survived in the elven lands?" Karin asked carefully, and as Cog nodded, she went on speaking "I do not know wherever that is utterly insane or absolutely genial, but I do know that I promised you something, didn't I?" oh yes, Cog remembered, make Eleonore cry and I'm going to flail you alive, followed by another set of horrible tortures.

Cog was about to reply, when Eleonore barged in "Mother…he just awoke, surely you can wait to bash him up until tomorrow"

"What? Why until tomorrow?" the duke asked, before realizing and reddening, together with Tabitha and Henrietta.

That was when the Duchess spoke up again:

"Anyway…I did get the general feeling there was something odd…"

"Yes, and it's sitting on your left" Cog replied shrugging.

"What?" The duchess stared at her left, where Tabitha was sitting; she had slowly turned more nervous.

"Brother what are you…" Henrietta began, but was interrupted when Tabitha, in a flash darted towards the exit. Too late, because a hand appeared straight in front of the girl's face, and knocked her downwards thanks to her increased speed.

The next moment, Mary appeared from her invisible state, removed the girl's wand, and muttered:

"I have keen eyes after all. Father, she's not the blue haired girl. Sure, she's pretty similar, but her facial pores are not in the same position as the usual one, you must have picked that up right?"

"I knew it from the fact that she reddened" Cog simply replied. "The fact she tried to escape added to that."

The Duke stared at the scene dumbstruck, together with Henrietta and Eleonore, Saito instead shrugged, moving to grab a chair and a rope.

"Commander, do I need to bring the torture set?" Guiche asked, making the rest of the room pale.

"I do not have a torture set" Cog replied.

"Pity, it kind of fit your image, you having one somewhere" Louise muttered, before being pinched on the cheek by Eleonore.

"Stop it, you two. It is unbecoming" the Duchess muttered, probably angry at the fact that she was sitting next to an impostor, and hadn't even realized that.

As the double awoke again, she found herself in front of Mary's face.

"Now, no need to cry, or be sad, no need to fear, or to hate, this will only hurt, until all hell has broken loose" Mary whispered as a strange chant, as she placed both her hands on the side of the girls temple.

The girl began screaming, and then after a while, went limp as Mary closed her eyes muttering every now and then things like *I see*, *I understand*, *Oh so it was like that*.

Cog commented simply: "That is what I was talking about Saito, once you get how to work information through the hands, you will then learn how to steal it from others…Obviously it's not something that can be achieved in days."

"Wait…did she just read her mind?" Guiche muttered, "Such a thing…would be the death of every skirt chaser" Reynal nodded to that, and strangely, the Duke de la Vallière found himself nearly nodding at it, before stopping halfway through the motion, seeing how the Duchess was looking at him, her eyes slightly closed into a suspicious gaze.

"So, who is she?" Henrietta asked, "And where is the *Real* Tabitha?"

"She's a double, seems like she actually is Tabitha's twin sister"

"Like the evil-twin thing?" Saito muttered "It's just so cliché" he added slowly.

"Well, anyway, seems like she was living in a monastery, until she was seduced by a certain someone with blond hair and two different colored eyes, who just casually is called *Julio*" as she said that, Mary was actually being sarcastic.

"Oh…I heard from the pope that Julio had left the church…I didn't think he'd go that far" Henrietta whispered, worriedly. "But how did he know about her?"

"From her memory, he said that the pope had been looking for her, in case the backing of the real Tabitha for the conquest of the Sahara hadn't come through. She was meant to support the crusade."

"So, why bring her up now?" Eleonore asked.

"Seems like this Julio fellow is outright insane now, he paid those assassins earlier to make a ruckus, try and kill Saito, since for him, father was dead, and then swap out Tabitha, so that she could then…declare war on Tristain for harboring demons and fake believers" Mary muttered.

"Where is the real Tabitha now?" Cog asked, tapping his right hand fingers on his knee.

"Fire Dragon Mountain was where he was planning on taking her. This double seems to have a conscience, and asked him not to kill her sister." Mary quickly replied.

"Good, so we have a destination…" Cog tried standing up, but was brought back down on the sofa, by Eleonore and Saito's swift hand movements.

"You stay here, no sickly are needed" they kind of both said that at the same time, making a *no* gesture with their fingers.

"No" Cog muttered again, feeling the headache, which had slowly crept up on him, grow in intensity.

"I mean, I can still fight…as long as I don't…" but his words died in his mouth, and then he let out a loud sigh.

"Fine…I understand" he muttered.

"Good hubby" Eleonore said, nodding, before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"So, I'm going" Saito said, "Who else is coming?"

"I'm in!" Guiche said, raising his hand.

"Can't go without artillery cover" Reynal replied raising his wand too.

"I'd say Cerbera should go too" Cog said, looking at his daughter, "They'll need you to sniff Tabitha in the mountains"

"Yes father" Cerbera muttered, raising her hand too.

That was when a fifth hand was raised, "Tabitha is my friend. I'm going too" Louise said.

"No, it's just too dangerous" the Duchess snapped right then.

"I'm going all the same!" Louise yelled back, standing up.

As soon as she yelled that, Cog fell asleep once more.

"Is that how it's going to be? Him falling asleep every now and then, when people yell?" the Duke asked, "Lucky son of…" but didn't finish the sentence, something on the back of his neck told him that, had he finished the sentence, he'd have a divorce paper in his hands.

"Anyway, I'm a void mage! I can stand my own! I've got the same power as founder Brimir!" she added then, "And Julio isn't going to be all that dangerous!" those words: were never less underestimating.

When the group actually left, Henrietta convincing Louise's parents, and they excusing themselves too, Cog finally woke up once more, finding himself in his room, and muttered "What am I doing naked, in bed?" looking around and under the bed sheets.

"You feel asleep" Eleonore replied.

"Why are you naked too?"

"Guess it, genius" was her only reply.

"The Fire Dragon Mountains, a place where fire dragons naturally bred and live in the warm habitat of…" Reynal had begun an interesting derailing on the nature of the mountain and was, as of now, using levitation to climb the otherwise steep cliffs. Cerbera instead was sniffing, jumping with ease from rock to rock, every now and then whining about the warmth of the terrain.

"You could simply stop putting your hands on the ground" Saito suggested her, but she looked at him with a *Stop speaking nonsense* face.

"That is how things are done!" she had replied, pouting.

Holding her red hair in a ponytail, she finally pinpointed to a cave, in which Saito entered first, Derflinger in hand.

"Hey partner, I was thinking" Derflinger spoke for the first time in a long while "You know, there isn't number two without number three"

Saito didn't want to reply to that, seeing how his second brain had actually understood what the sword was talking about, so he didn't. Louise instead stared perplexed at Saito's back, had it always been that big? It felt reliable, even if he was no longer her familiar, it still felt safe to be with him, even in a creaking mountain.

Creaking?

"The mountain is creaking? Am I hearing it right?" Guiche asked, being an earth mage he had some sort of natural affinity with the rocks and the ground, and could feel it, it was like something put under pressure, ready to snap.

"Might be a volcano underground" Saito replied "It is a *Fire Dragon Mountain* could be a way to say Volcano"

At that moment, from the depth of the cave, a bunch of small dragons scuttled by, running outside.

"That…seemed strange" Reynal whispered, seeing as one of those had barely avoided him.

"They looked scared" Cerbera whispered, as she crept closer, strangely being able to produce light from her hair.

Deep within the bowels of the cave system, they saw another light, and, true enough, they saw a house built inside the rocks, and the light was generated by strange crystals, which were glowing brightly, and a magma lake, which only had a small rock bridge for crossing to the other side, where the house was.

"These are wind crystals" Reynal muttered "A whole lot of them too".

"They seem to be growing, too" Guiche added, and as soon as he said that, a chunk of rock next to him began levitating, underneath it, wind crystals shone brightly.

"Usually they react to strong magical presences" Reynal said again.

"I don't like the bridge. Cerbera, can you dash ahead? I'll be right behind you. If it's safe, the rest can cross" Saito whispered, and as soon as Cerbera nodded, they both ran on the other side with haste.

Since nothing actually happened, Saito waved Derflinger to the rest of the group, which cautiously began moving along the bridge.

At that moment, however, from the magma pool a giant, red, scaly face emerged, streams of magma pouring down from its head, and his deep dark and violet eyes staring at the figures on the bridge.

It burst forward a cone of fire and flames, which would have charred the three had Guiche not been among them. Raising his spear he conjured a steel wall, which began brightly shining of red, as it heated up.

"Move it! MOVE IT!" Guiche yelled, raising the steel wall all the way till the other side, and begin to run behind Louise and Reynal.

"Faster!" he snapped once more, as a giant claw fell on the side of the wall, kind of leaving its mark, before crushing it down.

Guiche managed to jump to safety at the last second, avoiding a fall into the magma pool and taking a small sigh of relief, as he readied his spear.

As they all turned to face the dragon, a pair of hands clapped from behind them. Julio came forward, a wicked grin on his face.

"Do you like my Viola? She's such a nice cute pet. It took me only a day to calm her down and bend her to my will" as he said that, runes appeared on his right hand, "After all, I *am* Windalfr, familiar of the void, who can bend all animals to his will"

He would have gone on about a long ramble, probably, had Cerbera not dashed at him immediately claws ready to strike at his neck.

That was when the dragon's tail came down between them, making her jump backwards.

"The spawn of the demons must be cleansed. Tristain has succumbed to the demons, and must be purified!" as Julio said that, he wielded his sword, and whistled. Azuro, his dragon, came down from the cave's ceiling and grabbed him, putting him on his back.

"Viola! Burn them to a crisp!" as Julio said that, Guiche yelled:

"Someone get inside and grab Tabitha! I don't know how much I can hold it at bay!" before wielding his spear, and charging, or better yet, flying, at the dragon. He was actually the most suited. Even Saito realized it: only Reynal could fly too, but he was a fire mage, and a dragon which lives in a magma pool would certainly laugh off any attack.

Being in the magma pool meant that only flying things or long ranged attacks would work, and Louise's explosion was meaningless if it made the ceiling fall down.

She had started chanting never the less, before being stopped by Saito however.

"Stop it! If you miss the ceiling might fall!" he yelled at her, who yelled back:

"Trust me for once! I know what I'm doing!" Saito gritted his teethes, and prepared himself, as smaller dragons poured out from the magma pool aiming at them with their sharp teethes and claws.

Seeing that, Reynal actually entered the house to rescue Tabitha, she found her tied down on a bed, shackled, and slowly proceeded to douse the flame on his wand to cut open the metal; it would have taken a while though.

"Alone?" Tabitha asked him, but he shook his head.

"There's Louise, Saito, Guiche and Cerbera out there fighting the biggest dragon ever. Your staff?" he asked her, and she bit her lips looking at a corner of the room, where her staff laid, broken into pieces

"I see" Reynal said, finishing up freeing the girl, who stood up to collect the broken pieces.

Meanwhile, outside, Cerbera had just finished gutting like a fish at the market a fire dragon, and was chopping her way through another, her clawed hands fiercely piercing, slashing, and her teethes biting off big chunks of scaled flesh, like it was butter.

She roared savagely, as she jumped from side to side, even going as far as running for a bit on a wall, just so she could jump off it, and attack from above. Saito meanwhile took to shielding Louise, who was casting a particularly long spell, while doing so, he had to face also Julio on Azuro, who tried his best to use the advantage of his dragon to fly down and slash him, the strength of his blows second to none. The one who was having the toughest battle, however, was Guiche.

Wielding his spear he had to keep up his concentration on the levitation spell, and as such had resorted to the crude *Hit him when he turns his head* tactic, which however would hold no results unless someone actually made the dragon's head turn. That was where his Valkyries came into play. Sure, he hadn't actually honed them a lot, but they were simple dot spells, and he could simply conjure and let them fall as dead weight on the dragon, who being still an animal, turned around every time something pointy grazed his neck, the only weak point in his scales.

-This is tough. I'm barely scratching this thing! - Guiche thought, he'd need to use at least a square level spell, but doing so would certainly plummet him into the magma below, as the casting time was too long for him to then recast levitation. Even with the simple Valkyries he had sometimes gotten too close to falling inside. Only his cold blood had saved him at the present, but the more the fight lingered on, the more the sweat and stress would accumulate.

He avoided just another jet of flames, which impacted against the ceiling, and louder cracks began to be heard, as little beams of light started to appear inside the cave.

-Wait a minute, above us there should be a mountain- Guiche muttered, how could light filter through the cracks?

Deciding not to delve too much into that as the moment, he conjured another Valkyrie, and charged straight through with his spear.

-The basic motion of a spear is to pierce. If you can't pierce, you aren't using a spear- he thought, recalling Cog's words. At the last moment, he reinforced the tip as much as he could, to increase its piercing capacity, while moving all the weight on the back, so once inside it would keep the momentum to reach deeply into the dragon's body.

The spear cracked a set of hard as nail and tough scales, doing but minor grazing damages, but angering the dragon to no end. It stopped considering the Valkyries all together, and turned around, trying to eat alive Guiche, who did not have enough time to cast the levitation spell again, that he was inside the mouth of teethes of the dragon.

"Guiche!" Saito yelled keeping Derflinger steady as the sheer pressure of Julio's blows was astonishing. The shock for the loss of Guiche distracted him, long enough for Julio to actually pierce Saito's side, and flung him against the rock wall of the cave, impaling him there, with the sword.

Azuro flew in circles, before landing in front of the impaled boy. Louise hadn't yet finished the spell, whatever it was she wanted to conjure was taking long enough, and now only Cerbera was keeping the red dragons away from her.

At that moment, a set of Ice Javelin emerged from the house, mortally wounding Azuro and removing some of the pressure Cerbera was on. Tabitha emerged with but half a staff, Reynal behind her his wand raised.

"…Guiche! Sir!" Reynal yelled seeing both Guiche missing and Saito impaled to the cave's wall.

Julio ignored him, or the dying Azuro, and moved closer to the figure of Saito, who was laying there, without breathing.

"I killed you finally, spawn of the demons…" and as he reached for his sword's handle, Saito opened his eyes and smiled at him:

"Piercing does no damage to me, remember!" and holding Derflinger stronger than ever before, he returned the favor passing side by side Julio's chest, and as the boy dropped to the ground, exhaling his last breath, Saito stood up, removing the sword firmly lodged in his chest with but a strong pull.

Gasping for air, he saw the dragon which had eaten Guiche cry in pain, as blood began emerging from his mouth.

"I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS SOONER!" yelled a voice so familiar, as the blond man tore apart the dragon's neck to escape with a set of spears. Throwing himself with the aid of levitation onto the rocks next to Louise. As the dragon, obviously still alive, tried jumping down, Louise finally finished her spell, and all was over.

A white wall of light spanned practically in front of her, in silence, it disappeared together with the dragon, the magma pool and the mountain which still remained between them and the outside.

As the wind blew in, and the fire dragon whelps remaining ran away, everyone turned to face Louise paling. She had just blown up half a mountain. With a dragon in it.

"Look" Tabitha murmured, staring strongly above, and as Saito and the others did, they realized that much of the mountain had no longer been above them, as it was flying away, in the sky, kind of like Albion.

The expressions on everyone's faces where priceless.

*Back to the des Orniere mansion*

"So…wow" Eleonore muttered, "Fourteen hours. Non-stop…wow." She was still catching her breath.

"I'm in a bad shape" Cog replied sadly, "Usually it would be on the thirty-five" Eleonore stared at him with a shocked look:

"Oh no, I'd die after that." She replied giggling like a girl.

That was when someone knocked on the door:

"Father, if you're…done, there's a guest downstairs for you." Cog relaxed, the natural effect of post marital consummation was the simple fact that the release of endorphins actually eased his mind. So he dressed up slowly and walked out of the door, patting Mary's head once before going downstairs.

Mary took a shot at the sight in the room; sure enough Eleonore was watching the ceiling, a wishful and happy expression on her face, not wishing to see things her clear sight and photographic memory would keep for eternity, she closed the door and went downstairs.

Cog had started slowing down on his tracks as he was descending the stairs, slowly making his way towards the *guest* who had been served tea by Siesta. Next to him Tiffania and Professor Colbert were both seated, while Rayne was standing her back against the wall. They didn't look nervous, and Tiffania even waved at him as he kneeled in front of the *guest*.

"To the Primus of Genocide, I bow my head in honor" Cog muttered, keeping his sight low.

"Oh, stand up five-seven-eight-six-three-nine." The Primus of Genocide muttered, waving a hand, Cog stood up then, but still, he looked more bashed up than anything else, which was strange, seeing how it had appeared clear to both Tiffania and Professor Colbert that authority was both extremely strict, but also extremely lax.

"So, I've heard enough details for the moment, but there's one thing I've got to ask you, *Cog*" the Primus said with a smirk, "how is my new great-grandchildren coming along!" he asked, starting to laugh.

"Ahah…grandfather…why are *you* here?" Cog muttered, the headache growing more and more. Endorphin or not…parents are always headaches.


	29. Chapter 29:Final Confrontation & THE END

**We Reach the Ending! While I did my best to keep it the more anime-related possible, I actually brought forward a good enough way to have a Japanese boy make his way through the Japan's Self Defense Force and escape with a Jet. Because really, Deus ex machine are things of the Ancient Greeks…not of the present times.**

Chapter Twenty-nine

Technology brings forth solutions to everyday problems, but also more problems which need more solutions. This, after all, is the basis of evolution: Solving a problem with a solution which brings forth more problems, and then forgetting about the new problems until they become unbearable. Like the coal industries, the coal power plants, the oil power plants, the synthetic materials which do not decompose themselves in the ground, but are easy to produce, the nuclear power plants which leave highly radioactive refuses to be cleaned, somewhere. For the majority of those problems, the Empire of the Dystopia solved it all by tearing it all down, and throwing all nuclear waste, and materials, into the sun: which was effective, and laid the way to new types of energy. The sun didn't even realize it got bombarded with hundreds of thousands of tons of waste: it was too big to take notice. However, once the laying foundation for new types of solar, hydro, and clean energies were found, ways to make them even more powerful came to be. Infinite energy is an idiocy which no physic professor would ever claim possible, and would never had, until someone asked the fundamental question: What if we circle a black hole with a circular rotating mass of same length, and have it spin and produce electricity? What if we actually encircle an entire sun with solar panels, out in space? What if we transmit electricity, like we transmit data, through specific wave sets, and then convert it back? It was funny, but all those who thought about the petroleum never being replaced, never realized the sheer energy produced by a sun, or maybe they chose to ignore it for gains. The Dystopia had no money interests at mind: it only had evolution and survival.

That's why when the Earth ecosystem actually got stabilized, they moved to Mars, then began refining Jupiter's atmosphere, then it was Neptune's turn and finally Pluto, which was sadly an asteroid, but also the first point into the Traslation technology.

If you can't move in space faster than light, because there is a limit, why not move *above* space? Or *under* space, for what it matters? Traslation basically was removing oneself of mass, taking a non-relativistic point in space, and waiting as the universe turned around until the arrival. Einstein would have been proud to know that even space had become relative. Someone even tried it with time, but was actually discouraged from doing so: Never meddle with time lines. Never.

Synchronization, on the other hand, was an easier process: a point A worked as an arrival, and a point B as a departure. Both points were actually moved above space to become *the same space* so, when one moved, it actually stayed in the same place, until it took another step forward, and voilà: Teleportation.

That's why Cog was actually afraid of his grandfather's words, which would come down as rocks in the middle of the night.

Cog was sitting down on a sofa, in front of the one which his grandfather, the Primus, had actually taken to sit on, with both professor Colbert, who had his sort of dreamy sight about *technology* on, and Tiffania, on the other hand, who was both nervous but also happy to see Cog still alive.

"So, you were supposed to be on Truan-8" the Primus said, looking at Cog as he sipped a tea cup.

"Yes, sir" Cog replied nervously.

"The last report had you fighting two Scortifex', with a compound fracture in the arm"

"Yes, sir"

"So, how come it's been two years, two years of fleets moving by and away, of people coming and going, and you are here without your suit on? I've already got other people's point of view, but I'd like yours too" the Primus asked once more.

"Well…" and Cog began explaining, for he had to explain by voice, as he couldn't overexert his brain too much by sharing information through touch; not that he would even if he could, but that was not the point. He explained how he faked being a mute demon, how he faked being easy of mind, as in truth he hid the worst of his intelligence from other's view. He explained how he had already planned to overtake the monarchy with an industrial revolution of sorts, while having the judgment go on, which got him gasps from both Professor Colbert and Tiffania, when he'd come to realize it was actually his sister in the monarchy, and thus a judgment was unnecessary, and an industrial revolution was to be more controlled.

He spoke of Albion, of his travels through Tristain and Gallia, he spoke of his treasure hunting, of Tarbes, and of various other places he went to, and what he did there. He spoke until the sun slowly rose, letting the rays hit the side of the windows, and until the fire died down in the chimney. He spoke until his throat was dry, and he spoke with emotions, happiness, anger, sadness. He spoke until finally, when Siesta came by with breakfast, he had finished speaking, doing his best not to mention his probable death sentence in a couple of weeks, or months.

"You…you…" the Primus was at a loss of words; such…idiocy hadn't been expected.

"You're a Commander of Genocide! Not a psychic! You shouldn't enter fights with Psychics! Fighting without overwhelming strength? Are you gone nuts like a drunken Massagon? You…I ain't giving you my post, you know? Heck, I'd be the first to ask your promotion to Primus, and take my place, but I damn can't: it would shame me if I didn't at least do something better before retiring!" the Primus stood up raised his fist into the sky.

"Why do the good things happen only to the soldiers, and never to the elderly, huh? You've got a problem with elderlies solving problem!" as he did that, Cog slowly began massaging his temples, the headache increasing.

"So…what's going to happen now?" Tiffania asked, hesitantly, looking at both the Primus and Cog.

"Well, for now, I'll have message drones sent to my grand-daughter, and then she'll send back the list of who to let live and who should instead be killed."

"What happens if the Queen chooses not to kill anyone?" Professor Colbert asked, worriedly.

"Well, it depends: would anyone *pass* on the offer to kill the most hated enemies free of charges? To cleanse the corruption in a government, going unpunished? Furthermore there can be no entering the empire with a fractioned government. It has to be one and one only. In this case, the Governor of this planet is Henrietta, so she's going to make some tough choices. A token force would then be left to ensure safety and organization to go as planned, they'd be granted lethal force authorization, and would act only under the orders of the Original himself, at least, until there is acceptance of the fact that there can only be one government, with one ruler"

"So basically, it would be like becoming a protectorate of someone else" Colbert replied eyeing the so called *Primus*

"You *are* a Protectorate of the Empire of the Dystopia, wherever you like it now, or you will grow to like it later, it is up to you. As a Primus of Genocide, I can however alter the judgment at my own leisure, Professor Colbert…I could choose to have this world ignored by the empire for another hundred years, or even a thousand, or have it completely purged of sentient life and have it exploited. So, I've got to ask you, professor: Should thousands die, for millions to live in peace, or should no one die, for billions to be ruined by hate, anger and sadness?" as he said that, the Primus moved closer to Professor Colbert.

"You shouldn't think of us as another kingdom, professor. We are thousands, and thousands of years old. Millions have passed since the time we were but a country. We are an Intergalactical Empire. We span across galaxies, we are numbered not in millions, billions, or millions of billions, but even more than that! There is no hope, none at all, for those who defy our will. Yet we grant choice to those we come upon, but we are not one's to be toyed with." Taking in a small breath, the Primus whispered once more:

"Though maybe we could issue a leave of a hundred or two hundred years, and have you accepting the fact that, later on, you'd be entering an empire of such proportions…" as he began thinking about it, a rustle from the stairs came down, and Mary entered the room to move next to Rayne.

"Anything new?" she asked her, without making a try in hiding it, but as Rayne shook her head, as she was munching on a piece of bread and butter, she sighed, grabbing for herself some jam and some croissants.

Professor Colbert was at a loss of words…it didn't matter how much he turned it around, there simply was no way to say *no*. They had too many years of advantage to even think it would be possible. There was no way they could defeat them, fight them or oppose them. The only thing they could do was either wait until being absorbed, or be absorbed without waiting.

"Are there…any examples of what happens once you enter the empire? Other worlds … probably entered it, right?" Colbert asked, to which the Primus nodded.

"I'd have asked for Cerbera to demonstrate, but since she's not here, I'll have to go with one who actually is…" he opened the window, making a loud whistle.

Cog looked at him surprised:

"You brought a Massagon, here!" before peacefully falling asleep, with Rayne quickly moving next to him, and making him sit down straight, holding him from falling down.

"Yes I did…how come he fell asleep?" as the Primus said, turning around, from the window came in a monstrous face, which, however, seemed to have semblance of humanity. It was the same towering thing which had been seen at the academy, yet it seemed it had followed them till there.

Rayne chirped happily "Father is probably tired" refusing to add anything else.

"Could you assume a less frightening form and explain?" the Primus asked, as Siesta, and the servitude that actually was seeing the beast, outright fainted or began running away screaming.

The Massagon nodded, placing a hand on the window, slowly shrinking in size until it looked like a bundle of mechanical cables, and a really skinny man in the middle of it. He looked human, if not for the nearly empty eye sockets, which made him look like a sort of ghost from *the grudge* only without the dose of hair.

Tiffania shrieked going behind the sofa. This wasn't actually helping.

"You…you look … human" Colbert muttered, seeing how, except the incredible amount of metal on the skinny frame, it didn't seem to him to be so…alien.

"He's a fourth generation Massagon. With time even the most alien of races becomes akin to our form. This way, it helps in cutting down costs for atmosphere and habitat control" the Primus said, tapping slightly on his left hand, before showing a picture, which stopped in midair of a sort of primal and giant like ape, wielding a set of sharp teethes and erupting some sort of light from his fists and mouth.

"This was the first generation Massagon. The picture doesn't show it, but they are actually intelligent, gentle and smart. Right 1023413?" he asked the thing, which nodded, before speaking in a sort of raunchy voice.

"Yes…though I suppose I should offer my apologies to the girl who ran behind the sofa…I'm sorry little miss, didn't mean to make you afraid…" as he said that, Tiffania, albeit shivering, raised her head from behind the sofa, and, while gulping hard, muttered:  
"No…need…really…I'm the one…who should be…sorry"

"Anyway" the Primus said, once the Massagon, excusing himself once more for his appearance, left to resume his normal heightened form outside of the mansion, "I must ask…where is the rogue suit?" as he queried them, each showed a surprised face…

"Well? Care to wake up my grandson?" he asked once more, as Cog had been peacefully sleeping.

"No clue…" Mary said starting to think when was the last time she had seen her.

"It's been a while, indeed" Rayne muttered, none of the girls actually wanted to wake Cog up, so they didn't even register their great-grandfather's request.

"Then…where is this Louise girl?" he asked once more.

"Louise? She's probably on her way back from the Fire Dragon Mountains" said a stern voice coming from the stairs, as Eleonore, having dressed herself after a night's rest, had descended.

"I suppose we have yet to be presented" Eleonore said, bringing forward her hand in the usual kiss hand movement.

The Primus smiled, and taking the hand it brought it up towards his lips, but didn't actually kiss it.

"It's a pleasure, I suppose. I am that idiot's great-grandfather, Primus of Genocide, you may call me Primus, madam" the man said, before muttering to himself:

"Fire Dragon Mountains…yes, I've got them…is your sister a pink-haired girl?" he asked once more, tapping again on his left arm, and bringing forward what looked like a picture, however strangely it seemed to be moving. It was actually a video feed, showing the group making its way down from the mountain, and near the end were Louise and Saito, Saito holding on his back Tabitha, who wouldn't have managed otherwise to descend.

"Louise! Hey! Look over here!" Eleonore exclaimed, kind of irritated at the sight of her youngest sister walking down, "You! Over there, you blond haired des Ondines!" referring to Guiche "You could carry her on your back, couldn't you?"

"They can't hear you" Rayne chirped once more, "It's only showing a recording"

"Message inbound" muttered a voice from the picture, and soon the video was replaced with a set of moving squares around a spheres, "Grehyr satellites found. Overwrite in progress." As a bar slowly filled with numbers from 1 to 100, it soon became completely black. "Overwrite completed. Initiating live feed of test-world"

The Primus didn't bother closing the output connection, it would be easier to have people grow accustomed to technology by actually have them see it, and not hide it.

Suddenly, a set of different squares appeared in the air, each showing different areas of the world, all at the same time.

"That's Germania's famous hotspot for couples!" Eleonore muttered looking at a specific square of the various spots. "That over there instead is lake Ragdorian" pointing at another one "That's the Fire Dragon Mountains, that's the Tristain royal palace" and many, many more showed. The Primus kind of smiled at the sight of such naivety, while Professor Colbert was utterly fascinated, and even Tiffania looked in awe as she could even see Saxe-Gotha from there! All however, came crashing down as the strange metallical voice began screaming:

"Attention, self-defense mechanism initiated. Attention, Biological Weaponry detected. Attention, Black Alert. Black Alert" closing them down.

"Black…alert?" Eleonore queried, if a bit scared.

"It means that the Grehyr vacuum cleaner has woken up" muttered Cog, as he slowly opened his eyes again "A test world needs something to cleanse it after a test…after all."

*Up above*

"Stealth field is down!" Yelled the fleet's commander.

"Synchronization has gone out of range!" Replied the synchronization officer.

"What? Why?" the fleet commander replied surprised, before recollecting himself.

"Long range scanners give us a moving Bio-Weapon towards our forward base!" the communication officers replied.

"Can we hit it with the plasma rounds?" he kind of asked hopefully.

"No sir, atmosphere damage would be too severe for the local population" the weapons officer replied.

"Prepare second to ninth platoon for drop-in. Get me the Primus of Genocide on feed" the fleet commander ordered.

*down below*

As the black alert message subsided, Eleonore had already moved near Cog, to sit down next to him with a puzzled expression. At that moment, the face of someone the Primus knew, the fleet commander, showed up with a nervous expression.

"Primus. We've got the Bio-Weapon moving towards our forward base. Approximate time of arrival is sixteen hours tops. It's moving from deep down the *Romalia* country, laying waste to all it finds on its way. We're dropping down the second to ninth platoon, to provide assistance. It would be best if you were back at base by that time. For worst to worst, we're going to hit it with everything we have."

"Understood fleet command, I'll grab the useless idiot of mine and have him sent back up for a check. Prepare the infirmary for him, would you?"

"Synchronization is not working, Primus, something's scrambling our signal"

"Then we'll wait at forward camp" as the Primus nodded that order, the communication got cut off, and, turning to face everyone in the room, considering Rayne and Mary had already stood to their feet and were itching to move, he muttered:

"Evacuating the premises in less than an hour: We must go to the Magic Academy of Tristain…now!"

"The students are in danger? Is this what you're saying?" Professor Colbert was already standing up, when he heard that, and he was actually furious at the Primus.

"Yes, as are my troops! Move your asses, we leave now!"

"Damn…can I get a coffee first?" Cog muttered, as he once more leaned on the verge of falling asleep.

"I'll grab the jug for you" Eleonore whispered back –and for me- she thought.

*Hours later*

Saito couldn't have believed his eyes, when he saw something black darting at more than two hundreds kilometers per hour in front of them, who were heading back to the mansion, with Tabitha safely on his back, because she was without shoes and was still royalty. Saito knew it looked like it was some sort of a big troop transport, but to the others, it looked like another monster, so they had drawn their wands ready to fight once more, before being compelled by Cerbera, who was waving at the driver, to put them down because it was a friend. As they climbed on the back, after being repeatedly convinced that it wasn't a monster, the driver, a soldier wearing a helmet commented from the driver's seat, which had a window opening onto the back:

"So, who's Hiraga Saito of you?" as the transport began moving once more, Louise shivered holding herself straight to Saito, for she wasn't used to such speed. On the other hand, Tabitha too was holding onto him.

"it's me, sir" Saito replied, looking around him as the transport which was a closed one, seemed to hold some sort of armory inside, with guns, and metal crates orderly piled in a corner.

"No *Sir* Crap with me, boy. Hold on, tight turn!" as he said that, Guiche actually yelled as the transport turned to the right, throwing him straight against the other side, while Reynal managed to keep a hold of a handle. Cerbera wasn't even flinching when Guiche fell against her, even when his head ended up on her flat-boarded chest piece, simply grabbing him by the neck, and having him sit next to her.

Louise on the other hand, felt herself being grabbed by Saito, in order to avoid her falling. She instinctively grabbed him too, and found herself being within his left arm, which was holding her strongly, as she blushed, Saito kept looking at the driver, who didn't seem to mind driving with a helmet.

"So, you all riled up, going back to good old earth?" the driver asked once more, as the truck took another turn, sending Saito wondering how the hell he knew about that, and if there even were curves that tight around there.

"How do you…"he'd have asked, but was interrupted by Louise, who screamed:  
"Yes he is! Now can't you drive a bit more slowly?"

Saito looked at her with surprise, and Louise reddened in silence.

"No can do, every moment is precious, and they're going to need this transport pretty soon for evacuating the Academy"

"The academy?" Reynal asked, "Why are we heading to the Tristain's magic academy?"

"A biological weapon has awoken, and is heading towards our forward base" the driver replied, "which happened to be the academy" as he said that, nervousness ran over everyone. Saito, however, was the only one who was utterly afraid.

"Wait…Biological weapon, like the Nerghulians?" many looked at him with a surprised face, but Saito wanted to be sure.

"Nah, probably some sort of half organic half cyborg thing, pumped up with Psychic capacities and hell bent on destruction. The vacuum cleaner of this world, so to say" the way he said made it sound like an easy thing, so Saito thought about not worrying too much: it was no longer his problem.

"Can we provide assistance?" Tabitha asked then, to which the driver said:

"Help in evacuating would be nice, let the First fleet take care of it"

"First…fleet?" Reynal asked, curious.

"Long story. Someone else will explain it better. By the way, the thing is scrambling the Synchronization signal, so, unless you actually get the moons to align, we're on our own until the other platoons crash-land" the driver replied, before finally coming to a halt, which sent everyone on the back, except Cerbera, and Guiche who was by her side, straight against the metallic wall which separated the driver seat from the rest of the truck. Guiche fell once more against Cerbera's chest, who sighed shaking his head.

"I can't come to understand how father actually has praise for you" she muttered as she quickly descended, grabbing Guiche by the back of the neck with a hand.

Saito stopped for a second, before asking: "What do you mean, unless the moons align?"

"When we were up there we realized there is another Synchronization tunnel, strong one too, but it connects the moons of here to someplace else we have yet to look for"

"I see"

The academy's white walls sported machine-guns nest, all aiming in one direction. Above it, the Crusade's fleet was floating bearing on their masts the Symbol of the Crusade, down below a set of trenches, anti-air, and a small amount of cannons had been placed, as some grey dressed persons were directing strange clouds of nanites to form themselves on said forms. The Engineers of the Dystopia were both civilians and military, they were apt in building, repairing, and destroying. They had no need to bring in steel or concrete, because they could direct the nanites to actually refine and then use it, to produce and build. As they worked their ways into reinforcing the structure of the compound, Tabitha, once dressed again in a more orderly fashion, began helping, together with the Ondine Guards who refused to leave the academy, in putting up a shield covering the school.

"The Psych shield is impressive, I must say" the Primus said, looking as it slowly expanded covering up everything within the school premises. "With five focal points it should hold stable enough…though I wish we thought about bring down a couple of our own magnetic shields" he muttered, looking at Cog who was calmly drinking half a jug of coffee with ease.

"Nephew, I still haven't asked you: do you know where the rogue-Ai went?" as he asked that, Cog shook his head.

"Not a clue"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Academy, Louise was speaking worriedly with the Pope and Henrietta, explaining what had happened to Tabitha and what Julio had done.

"Poor boy…it saddens me…he was…" the pope actually had tears in his eyes, hearing what had happened to Julio, "now is not the time…however." He steeled himself, as he took into his hands the founder's prayer book, which had been given to him by one of the paladins guarding him. "I found out there is a new spell, once the fire ruby was recovered…It's called world door…it is however extremely willpower taxing." Saying that, he gave back the founder's prayers book to Louise, who, opening it into the pages, saw what was written with a perplexed look.

"Have you already tried it, your holiness?" Henrietta asked the pope, who shook his head.

"No, I wished to, but when the Ancient Dragon woke up, I had no choice but to use all the magic I could into spells to more quickly evacuate Romalia."

"Ancient Dragon?" Louise asked, curiously.

"Yes, it is said that founder Brimir defeated him alone, with the power of all his familiars, right now, I hope the strength of Cog's empire will suffice"

"I am sure that no ancient dragon of sort could hold against my brother's Empire: not even a thousand of ancient dragons could…" as Henrietta was about to speak more, an alarmed paladin rushed in yelling:

"An elven fleet is coming this way!" at those words, the pope's face showed signs of shock and wonder, as it quickly moved outside, to hear more from another paladin, who, spyglass in hand, was looking at the horizon.

"Your holiness, they're waving a white truce flag" the captain of the paladins quickly said.

"A truce flag?" the pope asked surprised.

"Yes, furthermore it seems to be only a token force of the elven fleet, no more than five ships" as the captain said that, however, it came clear that it was a problem: either they spoke with them, or they fought them, if there were five ships, filled with elves, would the crusader's strength of unity actually work, or would it not? And even if it did, what if it happened with a gruesome victory, for the victory over only five ships?

"Let's hear them out" the pope whispered, right now they had an ancient dragon to defeat, with the help from Cog's empire furthermore…how could the elves actually be a threat?

Bidashal slowly descended from the ship, behind him, both Eri and Luctiana stayed silent, the first one with nervousness, and the second one with excitement. She finally had managed to see a human settlement! Meeting with them was the Pope, followed by what was known as Primus, and Cog, who actually had a feeling this time would come around sooner than expected. As some elven guards readied their hands on their swords behind the elven ambassador, so did the paladins. The Dystopian soldiers, instead, made a much clear, and united…yawn.

"Meh." Was the general murmur among them, which made both the paladin, and the elven side, look surprised, what was it all about with these demons not giving a damn?

Cog looked with a slight glint of anger at Bidashal, who started slowly talking to him:

"It seems we meet again"

"What brings you here, elf?" the pope asked, intercepting the ambassador's gaze.

"We wish to discuss peace" the elf replied.

"Peace?" the murmur grew among the humans, ha! They knew they were outnumbered, and as such decided they would rather bow their head in shame and give back the holy lands. Some of the Dystopian soldiers, however, hearing this sort of talk started growling.

The Primus kept quiet, as did Cog who, however, turned with a saddened expression to Eleonore, who looked surprised. Why the sad face?

"Yes, we do not wish more bloodshed, and we have realized that the Shaitan's true face was another one. We seek to amend our ways by making peace" the pope nodded, smiling:

"So, you are ready to abandon the holy lands, and give them back to their rightful heirs?"

"No" that came as a cold shower for the paladins, and the pope, they wanted peace, but not at those terms? The Dystopian soldiers meanwhile, had gotten their growling increase slowly. The elf ambassador looked at them for a second, surprised or maybe perplexed, but kept on:

"We wish peace, but we will not abandon our homes, which have been ours for thousands of years"

"Those lands were ours! Founder Brimir himself came from there! There can be no peace without that in the equation!" the pope yelled back, flustered.

"We can help against this Ancient Dragon, and we could certainly come up with other solutions…" the ambassador, Bidashal, tried suggesting.

The pope firmly shook his head.

"No! I WILL NOT…gurgle" the next moment, Eleonore realized why Cog's face had a saddened grief. The Primus of Genocide, raised his right hand, and then slammed it down with enormous strength against the pope's head: in a second the pope became a sort of mushy meat thing on the ground, which brought forth a set of screams and cries. The next instant, when the paladins raised their wands, they were utterly torn apart by fast, wicked claws, who knew no mercy, and who clawed through steel like it were butter.

That's when Cog spoke slowly, in the general shock of the audience:

"Paragraph Nine-seven-two: Religion must never come in the way of peace offers, especially when by offering it bloodshed can be avoided in a period of crisis. All opposition will be removed. Ondine Guards, LOWER YOUR WANDS NOW!" Cog yelled, looking at the shocked faces of Guiche, and Reynal, and of the rest of the corps who had raised their wands, but had been left untouched by the general mayhem.

"Lower them, NOW!" Cog yelled once more, and silently, some of the corps obeyed, except Guiche, who had tears in his eyes.

"Commander…but…Charles…he…"

"You will not avenge him by dying today, Guiche" Cog replied bitterly, "lower it. Now" and silently, Guiche did so too. Eleonore stared, tears in her eyes, as she saw Henrietta faint outright next to her, and Tabitha held her staff strongly, without moving.

"I am now the one discussing the peace terms." The Primus said, staring at the elven ambassador, who while shocked, had him too ordered the other elves not to make a move.

"Yes…I understand…" Bidashal replied, slowly.

"You will not begin guerrilla nor terrorist operations on the human settlements, nor attack them. At the same time the Dystopia will make sure the human settlements will not barge into your territory. We wish for open border commerce and cultural exchange. We refuse to hear even the slightest bit of religious fanatic talk, racial segregation, or the likes. This is for BOTH sides" the Primus yelled, at the general ensemble.

"Now, as the governor appointed for this world has already been decided, you may either accept it, and the ensemble of laws which come with it, or refuse it and bring forth another subject, which will be adequately valuated. This does not, in any way, mean that the Governor will be able to overturn laws already placed. To speak it in plain simple terms: You'll have a human governor, but everyday life will always be the same, and if an abuse of power is displayed, higher ups will resolve the matter. Got it?"

The elf looked surprisingly at the Primus. He was talking fast, he was talking quick and he was simply stating facts like a book. He wasn't outright throwing them out of the equation, and he didn't even have the slightest bit of hesitation. He knew he could get everything with strength, but wasn't inclined into.

"Will the Governor be fair at least?" he asked once more

"After being trained for a couple of months you'll be surprised" the Primus replied.

"We accept…are there not going to be problems…for killing the pope?" Bidashal asked once more, but the Primus shrugged.

"Religious extremists always make me angry deep inside, those who have problem have better pass over it…though who said anything about killing him?" with a whistle, a demon walked forward, and soon, it became the splitting image of the pope himself.

"There, it can work for the fleet up above. When they'll later know the truth it's going to be too late for them to do anything" the Primus said once more, as the *pope* nodded silently, before smiling:

"I am the Pope Vittorio Severare, I look forward to working towards a bright new future!" as he said that, half-chirping it, many of the students, or the staff members, suddenly had the urge to puke. They didn't know it, but that wasn't even the vilest thing the Dystopia had ever done.

*elsewhere*

The Ancient Dragon moved forward, its paws cracking open the ground, as it moved, it repeated its programming: to protect the Owner from harm, he was the Gandalfr. The harm was the dystopian empire, which would kill all they did not like. The owner might not have been liked. To safe the owner, it awoke the biological weapon, it repaired it, and now *She* was the biological weapon. The pheromones she released into the atmosphere managed to convince the dragons that she was one of them, their father and mother. So they began naturally flying next to her, as she made her way towards the source of her problems, which was too near the owner.

She had to solve the problem now.

As she moved, she was surprised to find out that this weapon had psych absorbers, specifically in place to absorb a type of psych waves. *Void* it was called. It already was a bit full, but with more, it seemed like it could evolve again. A self-evolving weapon. Even the Dystopia didn't have one.

*elsewhere*

"Sir, we've picked up the rogue-Ai signal!" an Engineer said, looking at a screen in front of him, inside the academy's central tower.

"Where is she?" the Platoon sergeant asked.

"Straight ahead…she's inside the bio-weapon" the Engineer replied, looking shocked.

"When I said to give me some fun, I didn't mean it like this!" the Sergeant, who was actually also the Primus, looked up in the sky.

Cog, in the meantime, was calming down an extremely agitated Henrietta.

"The pope! They, we, you…the pope is dead!" she exclaimed once more, walking on a line.

"They killed him! Your empire killed the pope and his guards!" she added "and they even put a double in its place up with the fleet!"

"Yes. Now sister…what is it with that battle armor?" Cog inquired, looking at the strange, and utterly provocative armor Henrietta was wearing at the time, which seemed to be all, but armor.

"The armor is not the point!" Henrietta pouted back.

"I must admit that it was, however, a solution to the problem" Eleonore muttered, being next to Cog, her arms wrapped around herself, and looking sideways.

"What?" Henrietta stared at the woman who had married her brother, was she going nuts too?

"Well…now there is no longer a crusade, there is going to be peace once this problem is solved, and…well, we all already knew that Founder Brimir wasn't actually real, right?" as she said that, Henrietta gasped.

"Yes…you are right…however I don't think it would have been so bad *Not* to kill the pope!" as she said that, she looked angrily to the side of where the Primus was, who, keen eared and all, replied:

"I don't like those types of people, Grand-daughter!"

"This doesn't change the fact you could have, instead, knocked him out!" Henrietta pouted back.

"You still haven't spoken with your uncle. Trust me: his views are even worst" the Primus of Genocide replied back, to which Cog shivered.

"Better not" he said.

"Why not?" Henrietta asked, surprised.

"He's a Black Guardian. He's tasked with the protection of the world in which the Original himself is. Take grandfather's actions, but add to it the destruction of the system in which this world is" as he said that, he began shivering again.

"Never call a Black Guardian, never." The Primus replied nodding.

"Well, I don't get it!" as Henrietta said that, however, a strong tremor made her nearly lose her balance.

"Attacks incoming! Magnetic bullets from the dragons' sides!"

Saito had been given an armor, one that the soldiers, like Rayne, used to wear. It was extremely light, and instead of a normal view, he had also a set of different windows all around giving him suggestions, hints, showing him the battlefield, the angulation at which he held his rifle, and a sort of radar which differentiated friendlies from enemies from unknown. To that, it also added a sort of game-like feeling, counting on the lower corner of his sight the number of ammo, and shields, the armor had.

Louise was standing next to him, pouting as he got another soldier to explain to him how to use the rifle he'd been given.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Louise yelled at the boy, who stopped just in time from pressing the trigger.

"Ops, sorry. You were saying?" Saito replied waking up from his dreams of being a sort of Call of Duty war hero.

"I said, there is a new spell *World Door* in the founder's prayer book. I tried it earlier, and it showed me strange and tall grey buildings with strange things moving fast on grey roads…could it be your world?" as she asked that, Saito's heart took a leap.

"It could be! Can you show it to me? Please?" Forgetting it was willpower taxing, Louise did it, hoping for Saito to recognize her worth, maybe. Just when did she become seeking out his attention?

As the portal opened up, revealing a good old picture of Tokyo, and what looked like the roof of a building, a tremor shook the ground, making Saito stumble slightly forward.

-Crap I'm falling!- "Falling command recognized, activate rocket-boots" the next second, Saito had already dived straight into the portal, leaving behind him a puff of smoke, as the rocket boots, standard assault armor equipment, had thrown him back into the Tokyo's sky.

He was home.

He was home, screaming, and crying his heart out because he was also flying on rocket boots who he knew not how to stop. Also, because he was in mid-air, but was soon going to crash against the side of a building.

As he yelled to the top of his lungs, he covered his face, which had the helmet on, luckily, and could only think –Stop! STOP!- clenching his teethes for the impact.

Impact which never came, because he suddenly stopped, and slowly descended down into a back alley of Tokyo.

Louise had closed the portal after the tremor, not thinking Saito would have ended up on the other side…but when she looked around, and couldn't find him, she became desperate.

"I think he erroneously flew through the thing, miss" the soldier who had been instructing Saito said, shrugging:

"Wherever he is, I'm sure he'll be back pretty soon" he added, going back to cleaning his own rifle.

"Why are you so sure of it?" the girl replied.

"Meh, he's in love with you, pheromones are all around the air, and since you're in love with him too, do the world a favor and confess already" as the soldier finished cleaning the rifle.

"How…how do you know that!" Louise yelled reddening like a bright red lava lamp.

"Pheromones!" was the reply of the soldier "Our suits are highly advanced, we pick them up, and use them too. That's why we either ease up tensions or scare the shit out of our mother in laws!" with a happy tone he chuckled, before standing up and finally saying "time to go to work".

Another tremor, then Louise finally looked up in the sky, and gasped. There were hundreds of dragons bashing against the magic shield, as strange white things literally hit it with strength, not caring if some dragons fell down with them.

Up, on the walls of the academy, the machine guns began firing off rounds after rounds, as dragons plummeted down once hit, the sound became like a battlefield. The soldiers in the trenches below engaged firstly in fire barrages to the advancing fire dragon whelps, but when they got too close they actually resorted to their claws or to their nanites sword, which easily cut through even the thickest of hides.

The Ondine Corps provided assistance, as Guiche the Impaler of Dragons, albeit bitterly, was in the first line, throwing steel spears at the dragon's throats.

"Aim for the throats! The throats!"

"First line, fire!" one of the snipers on the wall muttered, and with a loud explosion, bullets flew precisely all in the same spot on the Ancient dragon's head, slightly cracking what looked like a tough exterior.

"Second line, fire!" if it had been but one sniper, it could have been slightly explained. Instead there were not less than sixteen snipers, divided into four lines of fire, which fired at steady intervals in the same spot of the beast's head.

When a bigger dragon managed to make its way into the academy soil, a Massagon moved on to intercept him, making the ground shake and letting out a primal roar its fists condensed plasma spheres into his hands, and clashing them both like in a clap against the dragon's head, it crushed it down to the side.

"Easy" the giant beast muttered, before reassuming the plasma barrage.

"When are they dropping down?" the Commander yelled to the officer in charge.

"One minute! They are preparing to crash land for maximum impact" as the reply came by the communication officers, another ping arrived from the fleet commander:

"We've got a retrofitted plasma turret ready to fire. Can you get us the triangulation?"

"Working on it" as the commander said that, the order was immediately rerouted to the sergeants on the field, who then rerouted it to their soldiers.

Battle orders of such caliber were on a *volunteer* basic: you could accept them beforehand, or before being ordered to go never the less.

So, when a reply came in that someone had actually volunteered, everyone's mind went back to the battle, except for the Primus of Genocide, who looked at who had actually volunteered and turned around.

"…he went" he muttered. Henrietta and Eleonore looked at him raising an eyebrow, and when they looked around, Eleonore nearly fainted from the shock:  
"I'm bashing him up! Wounded or not, I'm bashing him up when he comes back!"

It was better now. He was wearing Soldier armor. One of those old models which are usually kept as emergency armor. It brought him back memories. Memories of when he wasn't even considered to be worthy of anything but Soldier Class. Memories of when he was spitted upon, ordered to keep impossible grounds or do impossible things. Yet he had managed it all, he had survived Elite Classes, and he had become a Commander of Genocide, Elite class. If he had to die anyway in a couple of weeks, for his brain shutting down, with his organs failing, in a painful way, it was better to die off in a blaze of glory, or, in that case, plasma. Furthermore, the Ai was his fault all along. He hadn't thought about the Gandalfr thing working on the Ai, nor the fact that it was only inches away from going Rogue. This was his mistake, his solution. As the rocket boots kicked in, he began dashing through the battlefield in front of him, pain suppressants provided by the armor, and tranquilizers in his body, he was actually giggling ,even as messages kept popping into the side of his helmet telling him to stop, or get back. He closed the feeds and kept dashing off, twirling around, avoiding dragons who tried their best to claw him down. Then the Ancient dragon stopped, turning its gaze at him, and unleashing a pure white column of plasma. It hadn't used it against the academy for fear of killing the owner, but against him, so out of range of harm, it didn't matter. As they ray grew closer, Cog could feel but a single emotion: Determination. With that in mind he managed by the nick of time to avoid it, and keep spinning around, until a louder noise distracted him, in the midst of dragons falling like flies. An explosion, then another, as more fell down. He looked and got a hold of the side of a wing, belonging to what seemed like a … bomber jet? What was a bomber jet doing there? Looking inside the cockpit, he recognized the pilot and began laughing out hard.

"So now it's you saving me! Well what a surprise! The pup has grown!"

On the other side of the cockpit, Saito opened up a radio feed with the outside, and, sure enough, he started receiving communications:

"I…explain yourself" the voice came from the Primus of Genocide, who, down below, had seen appearing out of nowhere a fighting jet.

"Well…" and Saito explained it quickly.

When he had reappeared into the Tokyo skies, he had no clue on what to do. That is, until he realized there was going to be a moon eclipse soon enough. So, when the words of the truck driver came through, he suddenly moved towards the nearest Japanese Self Defense force base and…made his way through with the state of the art technologically advanced armor he was wearing.

"Really, the bullets didn't stop me, and it even scrambled their anti-air missiles! It was like a walk in the park! Even the grenades didn't explode near me!" as he said that, he made the plane turn to the side, to avoid a kamikaze dragon of sort.

"Now, what do we have to do?" he asked again in the radio.

"Have Cog stop acting like a hero of sorts, and have him, at all cost, avoid jumping straight into the Ancient Dragon's mouth"

"Ops." Was all Saito could say, because, in actuality, Cog had already waved at him and had jumped straight down.

"Ops? I do not like to be replied with ops" the Primus replied from his place, as another feed came straight in.

"I'm straight above the Ancient dragon! Use my location for triangulation procedures!" it was Cog's voice, who was, in truth, holding tightly to a set of cables and metal plates, staying low on the bioweapon's back.

He was looking for a way inside the machine, but couldn't seem to find any. That was when it actually rose from the beast's back, the Demonic Suit Mark Two, that is, and stood watching him.

The Ancient dragon stopped moving, as its central system had momentarily exited the premises to face off an intruder.

Cog stood up, on the dragon's back. Then, they both stared at each other, the Ai with its claws, and Cogs with his rifle.

-Pulse ammo loaded-

The Ai tried transforming into a swarm of micro nanites, but was swept away by a pulse shot, which released a wave of Psych energy straight in front of the rifle, sending some nanites to scatter, and forcing her to keep her human-like appearance.

"You are a problem to the owner" the Ai beeped, claws becoming pointy swords.

"You are a problem for the world!" Cog replied angrily, as glyphs began appearing all around him. "If this is my final push, than let it be" he whispered, as his brain was beginning to shut down once more. A final glyph, and then, as the Ai charged through, a wave of pure icy wind moved forward, freezing her into place, right there, as Cog fell down on the Dragon's back.

"I need not defeat you…" he muttered, "But keep you in place I will…"

As the suit beeped a final *Strike inbound, evacuate the premises* he closed his eyes, whispering:

"Death by war, never death by age"

Had it been a plasma strike, then yes, Cog would have died straight there, without hope nor any way to survive, as it, instead, was, the strike came from both the Crusaders fleets and Cog's bomber jet, throwing him from the shockwave off the dragons back, and as the Dragon's plating began to dwindle, revealing muscles and blood underneath it, the triangulation was finished and the shot burst forward.

As it slowly descended, the ball of pure green light radiated a sort of tranquility, even when the dragons, who had been circling atop their *mother* began being turned to ash. When it finally touched the dragon's back, the explosion brought forward charred the ground, and the resulting shockwave even creaked open the academy's walls, and destroyed the psych shields. Saito had no choice but eject himself from the plane, to quickly land, later on, on a patch of charred grass.

As he removed his seatbelt, to run towards the remaining charred body of the dragon, he couldn't help but pray for Cog's safety. When the Primus had ordered him to shoot Cog down from there, he had thought him mad, but considering the armor he was wearing, and the one Cog was had slight differences, it was a do or die situation.

As he was the first one to reach the site, all he saw was devastation, as more pieces of metal, or burned flesh, fell down from the giant figure resembling a dragon. That's when he saw a humanoid like body face down in the grass. The armor he wore was broken, and his helmet was in pieces, yet, as Saito grew near and turned him to the sight, Cog's eyes were open.

"Cog! You're alive!" Saito yelled, but then stopped.

Yes, his eyes were open, but devoid of life.

"Cog?" he asked once more.

"Come on Cog, you pulled this trick once" Saito said again, starting to pull him up.

"You can't fake being dead again" Saito added, holding him up as he began walking back towards the academy.

"You simply can't. I mean, it's pushing it. No character dies twice, or thrice in your case, and comes back…the audience doesn't like it" Saito whispered, as tears began falling.

"Come on Cog. Come on, you're Elite Class right? You shouldn't be dead" Saito whispered.

"Now you're going to wake up, or tell me something funny, like that you're back from the dead, and then we'll laugh it off after Eleonore bashes you up" Saito added.

"Maybe we'll have a drink of some sort, right?"

"Or maybe I'll bring you to meet my parents. They're nice folks, they'll understand what is going to happen."

"Come on Cog…"

"Come on"

As Saito stopped talking, he couldn't but silently cry, as the corpse of his friend was carried by him all the way to the academy, even if midway Louise ran up to him, with Tabitha and Henrietta, he didn't stop at all. He didn't stop even when Eleonore began crying at the sight, or when Guiche and Reynal bowed their head. He didn't stop when the soldiers of the Dystopia offered to carry him, or when the Pope's double began making a prayer for the fallen.

He stopped only in front of the Primus of Genocide, who slowly grabbed Cog's body and nodded tears running down his face.

"Once elite always elite" he whispered "Why must the young sacrifice themselves for the elderly?".

"This is payback for Truan-8" Cog whispered then, before falling asleep with the biggest grin in his entire life.

*Conclusions*

"So, you sure about this?" the voice came from Saito's side, as he was readying himself in his groom tuxedo.

"As sure as always" Saito replied to his best man, who grinned back, grabbing his cane and standing up.

"So, when are you getting your eyes fixed?" Saito asked, as he moved towards the altar, where the marriage between him and his beloved was going to be celebrated soon.

"As soon as I get Eleonore to stop being afraid of hospitals" Cog replied back, or better yet, Jacques. It seemed that for high heroics and sacrifices, the Dystopia actually issued names, instead of medals, so when they asked him what name he wanted, he had turned to Eleonore who had replied:

"Jacques des Ondines is not a bad name, right?" with a smile that meant that refusal would make her even madder than what she already was.

The fear of hospitals of Eleonore actually came from her fear of needles. One couldn't travel the universe without having basic vaccinations, furthermore, with her pregnant and all, it would be a risk *not* to also give her all the usual hormone based things to help in a safe pregnancy.

The result was that, apart from Eleonore actually proudly showing a bust which could rival Cattleya's, she would also refuse to go anywhere near a hospital for fear of getting *some extra punctures*.

As Saito patiently waited, he couldn't help but see at those who were present, and how they were dressed. Professor Colbert had Kirche tightly under check, because Agnes had been placed between the two, and her sight could stop even a bull from charging, Tabitha was sitting with Henrietta, and her twin sister, once pardoned and understood, was actually left in charge of the country, Bidashal was present, together with Eri and Luctiana, albeit Guiche and Reynal were behind them, watching them with a distressed sight.

Tiffania was sitting next to Fouquet, who had, her too, been pardoned. Montmorency was next to Malicorne, and on the other side, obviously, was all the La Vallière family and the nobility which owed them fealty. In first line, there was Eleonore, sporting a four months pregnant tummy, with Cattleya smiling happily next to her, and the Duchess looking like she was about to charge straight for Saito's neck.

Celebrating the marriage, was a Paladin, one of the Dystopia Paladins, which actually made Saito understand why Cog's had given so little notice of the pope's ones, and also one who kind of liked to read the entirety of the marriage liturgy. This one was broader, bigger, and wielded on his back what looked like a golden scythe and a pike. It was astonishing, to say the least.

His warm smile made even him fuzzy inside, like there was nothing to fear. Heck, he'd marry him instead of Louise had he not been straight.

When the organ began resounding, the spouse made her appearance, walking nervously as she had everyone's sight on her. Bringing her to the altar was the duke de la Vallière, while being her maid of honor had been sought by everyone of female sex around her, she had given it to Siesta, who was happily sporting a wonderful light blue dress.

As the Duke brought his daughter up to the altar, and then moved to her seat next to the Duchess, Saito couldn't have been sure about it, but he'd have thought he'd seen him smile a bit and cry a bit.

"So…" as the Paladin began the liturgy, Cog's head started churning out happy thoughts. He had actually over-exaggerated his fears of death, what he had thought would have brought him to die in less than a couple of months was actually nothing more than a narcoleptic disease followed with the burning of the eyes' nerves. All in all, nothing unfixable. Sure, he wouldn't be able to see Saito's wedding, but he was pretty much sure he was going to see his newborn son, because it was a son, soon. Maybe this one would grow up not hating him like the black plague or something.

When the Yes came by, Cog grabbed a small wooden box, and opening it, slowly passed it in the air, until it was grabbed by Saito, who taking the rings in it, passed the now empty box back to him.

With the vows done, and the kissing, they were now bound as husband and wife, and actually by one who had legal right to do so.

All in all…

It was a Happy End.

_*Final Thoughts from the Author*_

_All in all it's been a fun writing, and most probably it's also going to get some rewriting done later on. With this, the fanfiction is completed, but maybe (I repeat the maybe) a sort of *Twelve years later* might be done as an Omake. Still in the maybe thing. _

_Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. _

_And as a bunny I know would say:_

_That's all folks! Sincerely,_

_Shadenight123_


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